Banshees
by Eternity and a Day
Summary: Maki thought her dearest friend Nico had died years ago. When Nico appears and saves her from a group of gunmen, she is dragged by the hand into the world of covert operatives. A world from which nobody will escape unscathed. AU. NicoMaki, of course.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Content warnings will be posted where I think it necessary at the start of particular chapters. However, across all chapters, there will be some violence and people dealing with the resulting mental issues, so I probably won't flag those. If you read the summary and didn't realise that these things might happen, then more fool you I suppose. I don't think it's anything too bad, but you have been warned...

 _Arc 1: Live to Die, Die to Live - Arc Start_

Chapter 1

Maki Nishikino leaned down to place a bouquet of flowers in front of a modest grave.

"Hey there. Sorry it's been a while, I've been really busy with the internship. They don't give me a break, even though Papa's their boss… I think he must have told all the other staff to make sure I did my share." She smiled and laughed a little. "But it's useful. I can't wait until I'm qualified… only another year and I'll finally be 'Nishikino-sensei'. It's all right though, I'll always be Maki-chan for you."

Maki looked at her feet, sighing deeply. "Sorry… I just wish I could hear your voice again. I mean, I have all your music that I can listen to, but… you know what I mean. I guess I still miss you Nico..."

Maki frowned, then pulled her face into a smile. "Oh well, nothing to be done. So just watch over me Nico-chan! I'll become the best doctor ever, okay? The world's number one doctor… or something like that."

She sighed again, "I guess I had better get going. I'll try to come visit again soon. See you soon Nico-chan."

Maki turned and left the graveyard. As she did so, she took a music played out of her pocket and put the earphones in, swiftly selecting the playlist she wanted.

" _Nico-Nico-Nii!"_

Maki considered herself a calm and reasonable person. She was generally prepared for most things in life. However, she had to admit that when, during her late-night shift at the hospital, just before she cursed her tiredness for the fifty-third time, she was taken aback when two gunmen burst into the room she was in. They were in what looked like casual clothing, dressed not to stand out, though the assault rifles they were carrying made them do so.

Maki stared down the barrels of two guns, the papers she had been holding having fallen to the floor where she had dropped them in her surprise.

One of the men spoke, "Nishikino-san, you are coming with us."

Maki trembled, struggling to say something, to do anything. She had no idea what to do. Her mind strangely started to wander. It occurred to her that she had not heard a disturbance. Maybe these guys had sneaked in without attracting the attention of security. If so, they must be very good, and Maki must be very screwed.

When Maki did not do anything, the man who had spoken approached, lowering his gun and reaching to grab Maki. Maki instinctively stepped back, her fear taking over. The man glowered at her, reaching out to grab her.

 _Phut, Phut_

Whispers of silenced gunshots sounded and Maki stiffened as she watched both the gunmen collapse, each with a bullet wound. Vaguely, Maki's training made her realise the wounds would probably not be fatal if treated soon, before it occurred to her that somebody had fired the shots. Looking around, she stared at the doorway, where a figure was lowering a gun.

The figure was very short and dressed in black clothing, which looked like it was padded and had several pouches. A rifle hung from from a strap over their should, which they held in one hand, while a pistol was in a holster on their belt. A helmet with a dark visor obscured their face.

" _Nishikino-san,"_ the figure spoke, a voice modulator corrupting their voice, _"please come with me, I will escort you to safety."_

"Who the hell are you?" Maki backed away again, her back hitting the wall. "What's going on?"

" _You're in danger, I am here to get you out of it."_

"How can I trust you? You're just another person with a gun!"

The sound of static screeched and another voice spoke quietly from the helmet, presumably not intended for those other than the wearer to hear, _"Fairy, what's the hold-up?"_

" _She won't come with. I told you it'd be like this Swan."_

" _Just get her to come with, we don't have much time, there are more guys on the way."_

The figure shook their head then gripped her helmet. _"You don't trust me, right Nishikino?"_

"Why should I?"

The figure nodded, _"Of course you wouldn't, you barely trust anyone Maki-chan."_

" _Fairy! What are you doing?"_

"Making her trust me." The voice modulator was not applied as the figure lifted the helmet off, revealing a girl's face, with mid-length black hair and red eyes which Maki knew well.

"N-Nico?" Maki stared at the girl. "But you're dead..."

Nico grinned and spoke in a voice Maki had only heard in recordings for the last three years, "If I weren't, I wouldn't be here. Now I'm only gonna say this once Maki." Nico held out a gloved hand. "Come with me if you want to live."

Maki stepped forward and took the hand.

* * *

" _What?"_

" _They finally found her body… it seems she was caught up in the explosion..."_

" _No… that can't..."_

…

" _I hear her body was in a terrible state. They had to use her dental records to identify her."_

…

" _Thank you all for coming here to remember my daughter Nico..."_

…

" _I wanted to tell her the truth, and then…"_

…

" _Nico!"_

* * *

Nico looked out of the room, her helmet back on. She looked both ways down the corridor, before signalling for Maki to come out with her. The two hurried down the corridor. They were in the back of the building, in the staff areas, away from the wards, and were on the first floor. They were aiming for the stairs to get to the ground floor, then to find a way out from there.

As they reached a corner, Nico stopped up against the corner and looked around the corner with a small mirror attached to her rifle. She raised a hand to tell Maki to stay still. Maki stood behind the shorter woman, waiting with baited breath.

Nico turned the corner suddenly and squeezed the trigger on her rifle. Three shots burst from the gun, and a cry of pain sounded from down the corridor.

"Thirteen! What's wrong?" a voice called from a room nearby and Nico cursed quietly through the voice filter as several sets of footsteps moved towards them.

" _Cover your ears and close your eyes Maki."_

Maki did as bade. Even through her closed eyelids and hands over her ears, she saw and heard a flashbang go off. A moment later she opened her eyes as Nico grabbed her arm and dragged her down the corridor the way they had come.

" _There are stairs this way too. That should have slowed them down but I can't take them all."_

Footsteps sounded behind them, still some way behind as they turned another corner, but the women were both aware the footsteps were gaining on them.

Nico hit something on the side of her helmet. _"Archer! You got visual?"_

" _Aiming now Fairy. You've got five on your tail."_ The sound of glass breaking and a cry of pain came from behind the pair. _"Make that four…_ _no, t_ _hree..."_ More glass shattered, and another voice screamed.

"You have a sniper?!" Maki exclaimed as they turned another corner.

" _Yup, she's pretty damn good."_

Glass shattered behind them again and Nico stopped a few yards from the corner. Maki turned to her, "What are y…?"

Nico raised a finger to her helmet, signalling for silence. The sound of footsteps kept coming down the hall. Nico raised her gun, and Maki swore she could see a grin behind the black visor.

Two men rounded the corner and were immediately met by a round of bullets, followed by a second burst. They both stumbled forwards, collapsing onto the floor. One of them was still grasping for his gun. Nico stepped forward, lifting her gun so the strap came off her shoulder and over her head. She then slammed the butt of the rifle into the back of the man's head and he slumped down unconscious. Nico then calmly put the strap back on and turned to Maki. _"Let's keep moving."_

The two hurried along, heading for a different set of stairs. As they ran, Maki noticed the absence of other staff. "Where is everyone else?"

" _Everyone else had things to do in the wards right now, by complete coincidence, allegedly."_

"Meaning?"

" _Someone probably hacked your IT system, and either found a time when you'd be by yourself, or made one."_ Nico glanced to her side just after she finished speaking, looking out the window, before hurling herself into Maki, forcing her to the ground as the windows by them shattered, a bullet embedding itself in the wall behind them. _"Keep low, keep moving."_

Maki nodded, carefully avoiding the shards of glass as much as she could, and half-ran half-crawled towards the stairs, Nico by her side.

Nico's helmet blared a message suddenly. _"Fairy, I've taken out the sniper on the South side."_

" _Rodger that Mochi."_ Nico looked at Maki, _"You okay?"_

"Yeah, just great," Maki panted, receiving a blast of static as Nico snorted.

" _Still as sarcastic as ever then?"_

"Still as annoying as ever then?"

Another chuckled came from Nico's helmet. _"Anyway, we're nearly to the stairwell. Think you can manage one last dash?"_ Maki nodded, and Nico returned the gesture. _"Okay, here we go!"_

The pair stood and ran towards the stairs. Maki could feel her legs in agony, but tried to put it out of her mind. She had to keep going, had to keep moving, had to get away with Nico…

Her Nico-chan…

The women were in sight of the stairs when the enemy made their appearance, two gunners appearing from the lower floor. Nico shoved Maki, pushing her to the ground and out of harm's way, before both sides opened fire. Nico gritted her teeth as a bullet found lodging in her side, but her opponents faired less well without the benefits of body-armour.

"Nico, you're hurt..."

" _It's fine..."_ Even through the voice filter, Maki could hear the pain in Nico's voice.

More footsteps sounded from the stairwell, coming up the stairs. Nico hurried over, detaching a grenade from her belt and rolling it down the stairs.

An explosion sounded, along with several screams of pain. Maki hurried over to Nico's side, her eyes first drawn to Nico's wound, then to the ruined stairs. The steps down were unusable, unless one was willing to jump down a floor. Even then, the sounds of movement from below discouraged the pair from trying.

" _We need to go to the roof."_ Nico said, moving to the stairs up.

Maki followed, confused, "But we'll be trapped."

" _Not exactly… Swan, we're going to need aerial extraction, we're heading to the roof."_

" _Understood, Fortuna, you heard the girl."_

" _On it."_

" _We'll be in position in three minutes Fairy."_

Maki could feel it now, the grin concealed behind Nico's visor. In spite of the pain she was in, and the risk their lives were in, Nico was having the time of her life. Then again, as Maki recalled, she always was. And as the pair ran and adrenaline coursed, Maki could not help but grin too.

They ran up three flights of stairs, until they reached the door onto the roof. Behind them, they heard a series of footsteps, close on their heels. Too close to risk a grenade again, in case they had learned their lesson and threw it back.

The pair burst onto the roof. Nico scanned the area, looking for something, but not finding it. A half-dozen gunners rushed up behind them, Maki and Nico now stood at the edge of the roof, staring across at six guns, aimed at them.

"Give it up!" one of them shouted.

Maki swallowed hard, her prior adrenaline-high giving way to fear. A sudden gust of wind chilled her. Then she realised that Nico was still grinning.

" _Maki, do you trust me?"_

Maki stared at Nico. "I… always have, and always will." Maki gently took Nico's hand. Nico gripped tightly back.

" _Thanks, Maki-chan."_ Nico allowed her rifle to fall on its strap in front of her, as though in surrender. What only Maki could see was her free hand going to her pistol.

"Right, that's the correct attitude, now hand..." the man who spoke had no chance to finish as Nico whipped around, firing her pistol.

There was a large chain-link fence around the roof, supported by a number of metal posts, bolting the links in place. It was at one of these that Nico fired – four shots, removing the bolts attaching one side of one fence piece, freeing it to move. Move it did, as Nico ran at it, pulling Maki along.

" _JUMP!"_

When Nico shouted, Maki did as told, both of them jumping, Nico first, into the damaged fence. The metal scraped Maki slightly, but she ignored that, as she realised that Nico's plan had worked. They had jumped through the fence…

More notably, they were now in free-fall.

As they had jumped, Nico had twisted her body, so she ended up with an arm around Maki, still holding her hand. The other arm reached out and suddenly grabbed something. Maki stared at strange patterns where Nico seemed to be holding air – then it seemed like the outline and gleam of something metal flashed into existence where she held it.

Two sets of arms appeared, reaching out of nothing to pull Nico and Maki up, and suddenly, they were inside a metal cabin. At the same time, Maki could now hear the hum of engines and the dampened whir of helicopter blades. The arms which had dragged them in belonged to two other people in the same outfit as Nico, both wearing helmets.

"What the?"

" _Stealth craft, hard to see..."_ Nico pulled off her helmet as the helicopter door closed behind them "...unless you know what to look for."

Nico turned to one of their saviours, "By the way, are you going to leave those guys there Swan?"

" _Of course not..."_ The sound of an explosion rang out nearby. _"Fortuna has it under control."_

"Good good..." Nico turned to Maki. "So, Maki-chan, I know this is our grand reunion, but… would you mind patching me up?"

Maki smiled a small smile, "Can someone get me a first-aid kit?"

* * *

A/N: So, a thing this is. Review you should. Encourage the writer it does.

But yeah, as NicoMaki seems to be drying up, thought I'd throw something else into the metaphorical ring, hopefully stimulate something (as if I'm popular enough to...)

Anyway, that's all for now...

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.

Edit 12/03/18: Some minor corrections made, including correcting one instance of the code name 'Fortuna' incorrectly being written as 'Fortune'. The correct code name is 'Fortuna'.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After making a brief landing to pick up the other two members of the team, the helicopter sped away from the hospital, as police sirens blared outside.

Within the back of the helicopter, Maki was carefully tending to Nico's wound. The bullet had gone clean through her side, missing anything vital, much to Maki's relief. It looked a lot worse than she knew it was – Maki simply needed to clean the wound and bandage it up, along with a few stern words to Nico not to perform any strenuous activity for a while – including jumping off rooftops with trainee doctors under her arm.

Nico grinned at the joke, "I make no promises, especially when the trainee doctor in question is in danger, and happens to be an old friend."

Maki went quiet, deliberately focusing on binding the injury.

"Sorry..."

Maki looked up at the small word from Nico. "For what?"

"Everything, but for starters for making light of it."

Maki sighed and finished her work, before pulling sitting up in her chair and looking Nico directly in the eye. "What happened? What's going on? What is this group you're in? Who were those guys? What did they want?"

Nico calmly waited until Maki's list of questions stopped, then nodded. "Those guys were a bunch of kidnappers. They take anyone they can with rich connections, to try to get as big a ransom as they can. They wanted you because, well, your father's rich, and they thought you'd be a relatively easy target. We are a specialist team, working for the government to thwart people like them. We found out they were targeting you, and… well, you saw the rest."

Maki's gaze turned stern, "And what happened?"

"I just told you..."

"You know what I mean!"

Nico drew a sharp breath when Maki's voice raised. Then, the smaller girl nodded, "Okay..."

* * *

"Yazawa-san! You're on in five!"

"Okay!" Nico called back to the stage-hand from her dressing room. "You nearly done Nozomi?"

"Almost," her friend, Nozomi Tojo, replied as she gently applied the finishing touches to Nico's make-up.

"Thanks!" Nico grinned.

"Seriously though, couldn't the great Nico-Nii have stretched to a professional stylist and hairdresser?" The third occupant of the room asked dryly.

Nico chuckled, "Urgh, Eli, don't remind me of the last time I had to deal with 'professionals'. They totally don't understand how I want things."

"Just because you're so picky." Eli Ayase shook her head at her friend.

It was a strange thing that the three of them got along, in spite of being so different. Eli – tall, blonde and serious, Nico – a short bundle of energy and irritation and Nozomi – the dark-haired goddess of fortune and confusing everyone around her with her, scarily accurate, predictions. Though Nozomi would always attribute them being friends to their differences – they covered each others' gaps and were never in competition with each other.

"My, my, don't start a fight right now, you'll ruin your hair Nico," Nozomi said, cutting off the spat before it began. "Now you'd better head out Nico, good luck."

Nico grinned, "A true idol doesn't need luck, just the devoted support of her fans!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." Eli sighed, "Why were you never this devoted about your school work?"

"'Cause idols don't need good grades, Miss Former Council President," Nico retorted, sticking out her tongue. She then took a deep breath, "I'm heading out now!"

Eli smiled, "Give 'em what they want!"

"Of course!" Nico turned and opened the door of her dressing room, stepping out into the corridor, as her friends began making the preparations for the intermission, when they would be fixing her up again.

"Nico-chan!"

Nico turned at the call of her name. Her manager ran up to her. "What is it, manager-san."

"There's been a technical issue – a fuse blew in one of the lights. They're changing it now, but we're going to be a few minutes late.

Nico nodded, "Okay, I'll go wait in the wings."

"Yes, thanks. The cue will be as normal."

* * *

"It's stupid how tiny little things like that can change your whole life," Nico said to Maki.

"What do you mean?"

"If I had been on stage when I was meant to be, they would have easily got me. Instead, when the bomb went off, I was in the wings..."

* * *

Nico stared in horror at the wreck of the stage. She blinked, dazed, a few times. There were screams of pain and fear coming from the audience. The people who had come here to see her, to smile, all crying out.

She was shaking as one of the stage hands directed her quickly back to her dressing room. Two armed security men stood at the door as she was ushered inside.

"Nico!" Eli and Nozomi both ran over to her.

"Are you hurt?" Nozomi asked.

"N-no," Nico managed to reply, still very shaken.

Eli led the idol to her chair, while Nozomi thanked the stagehand and promised they would take care of Nico.

"There was a flash, and then… people screaming..." Nico was almost in tears. "And… if I'd been up there, I..."

* * *

"I wouldn't have died. They knew the song-list, they knew where I'd be. They didn't want me dead..." Nico was shaking, even just recalling the events.

It surprised Maki. Nico had been perfectly fine fighting her way through the hospital, not shaken at all. Perhaps it was not fear any longer but the memory of fear which made her tremble. Maki placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, and Nico instantly stopped her trembling, seemingly startled.

"S-sorry. It's just… I've come closer to dying many times since, logically I know that but… it was so real, so bizarre… so out of my control." Red eyes glanced at the floor, "And then..."

* * *

The three women heard shouting outside, then a series of bangs. Finally, the door to the dressing room was thrown open and three people stepped in, wearing balaclavas brandishing assault rifles. Each gun was pointed at one of the women.

"Don't move!" the first of the gunners, a woman, spoke.

"Who the Hell are you?" Nico asked, still shaking.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you are going to do exactly as I say Yazawa, or else your friends there are going to end up full of holes."

"Possibly after we've had some fun," one of the other gunners said.

Nico gritted her teeth, knowing that now was not the time for a witty comeback. "Fine, what do you want?"

"That's a good girl," the woman signalled for her two companions to move forward. One of the men each stood by Eli and Nozomi. The one by Nozomi decided to grab her, placing a hand on her chest.

"Get off her!" Eli shouted, about to make a move before the man next to her prodded her with the tip of his rifle.

"I'd rather not have to kill you Missy."

Nozomi tried to hold in noises of discomfort as the man groped her, biting her lip and closing her eyes. She felt sick, and only wanted to scream, or curl up in a ball and hide.

"Stop that and I'll do what you want!" Nico half-shouted.

"You're in no position to be making demands." The woman approached, hefting a bag off her shoulder and pulling a laptop out of it. She held it out to Nico. "Log in to your bank, and make a payment. We'll take… everything you have. Should be a good few tens of million yen, at least. Right, World-Class-Idol-san?"

Nico glared at the woman, then glanced to her friends. Eli gave her a knowing look and nodded slightly, before turning her gaze back to Nozomi. Nozomi opened her eyes and looked at Nico with a pleading look.

Nico sighed and slowly took the laptop. As soon as it was in her hand, she flung it at the woman's head.

The two men had been unprepared for their victims to fight back, one too busy distracting himself, while the one by Eli had simply let his guard down, so self-assured of their victory. The gun pressed in Eli's back was knocked aside as she pushed her body back, ramming into the guy.

Simultaneously, Nozomi brought her foot down on her groper's foot, then pulled herself forwards, pulling her foot up and slamming it into the man's crotch as her arms touched the ground. She then rolled to the side as the startled man dropped his gun.

* * *

"You all did that?"

Nico chuckled at Maki's amazement. "We were trained in self-defence. An idol has to be prepared for crazy fans, and I thought it would be good if Eli and Nozomi joined me for training, given they spent so much time with me around concerts. Of course, we weren't expecting to have to use it against gunners, but..."

"You're crazy."

Nico grinned and stuck out her tongue, "I thought you already knew that about me."

* * *

Nozomi had grabbed the gun and turned it to point at the man who had held her. He reached out to fight back and she pulled the trigger, closing her eyes in fear as the man screamed.

Eli had managed to get an elbow into her attacker's jaw and he was rammed into the wall. He tried to shoot her, but she forced his arm against the wall, the bullets burying themselves in the ceiling. He grasped for a pistol on his belt with his other hand, but as he pulled it out, Eli grabbed that hand with her free one.

The pair struggled, Eli realising her relative weakness – the man was a trained fighter, she was just a young woman. Sure, she had built up strength from her ballet, but not for this. As the pistol edged closer to pointing at her, she shook. Then she pulled out the last reserves of her strength and raised her knee, forcing it into the man's stomach. As he was startled, she ripped the pistol from his hand and both raised their guns.

He was faster, but did not take time to aim. As she felt a pain in her side, Eli pulled the trigger and the man screamed. She twice more and he stopped moving.

Nico and the woman were brawling on the floor. Nico was much smaller, but more nimble, dodging the punches the woman made and pummelling back. Her costume tore quickly as she fought, biting and scratching. The woman's rifle lay on the floor nearby where it had fallen. Finally, the woman landed a punch on Nico, sending the idol flying back.

The woman threw herself at her gun. Nico pulled herself up and grabbed the chair she had been sitting on before the trio burst in. She hurled it at the woman, who stumbled back, but still grabbed at the gun.

Nico ran at the woman, kicking her in the face. The woman released her hold on the gun and Nico grabbed it. Nico stood over the woman, gun lowered at her. "Who the fuck are you people?!"

"Fuck you!" As the woman reached out to grab the gun, Nico squeezed the trigger.

Nico had never seen a person die before. The screams from earlier had been bad enough, but now she watched as the bullets did their work. It was not the blood that terrified her most. It was the colour and life fading from the woman's eyes, staring through the balaclava, as she gasped out her last breaths. The gun had fired a burst of three rounds into the woman's chest. From the three wounds, blood blossomed, like flowers of death upon her chest.

Nico staggered back, dropping the gun as she fell to the floor. She had just killed a woman.

She had just killed a woman.

She

had

just

killed.

Nico screamed, covering her eyes with her hands, but it did not help. She could still see those eyes, staring at her with hate and pain and fear and lifelessness.

Behind her, Eli had dropped the pistol and made her way over to Nozomi, who still, crying eyes clenched tight shut, was pulling the trigger, receiving only clicks of the empty magazine. Slowly, Eli reached around Nozomi, gently pulling the woman's hands away from the empty gun, which fell to the floor. Eli then turned Nozomi around and pulled her close as Nozomi let loose her bawls and sobbed into Eli's chest.

Nico finally raised her head and stared at the dead woman. Nico was still shaking, but pulled herself up to her feet, shakily taking the gun and heading to the door. She had to find out what was happening, had to see if anyone else was in danger, had to…

She stumbled as she reached the door and slumped to the floor. The adrenaline in her system was fading, she was weak and felt broken. The door was thrown open and two men hurried into the room.

" _Holy crap, they fought them off themselves!"_

" _One injured, get a medic in here!"_

" _Yazawa-san! Can you hear me? Yazawa-san!"_

* * *

"I woke up in our rescuers' base, and there you have it. After that, we were offered the chance to join up, and we all decided to do so."

Maki raised an eyebrow, "But… you were terrified weren't you. Why did you…?"

Nico shook her head, "Not now… I'm afraid I don't want to talk about that right now."

"But..."

"Please… Maki..." Nico asked with her eyes, and Maki could not say no.

"Okay… but… another time?"

Nico smiled, "Sure."

"So Ayase-senpai and Tojo-senpai are also members?"

Nico nodded, "You already met one of them."

"Well I'm guessing Fortuna was Tojo-senpai, so… Swan was Ayase-senpai?"

Nico chuckled, "Yeah, once you know who's in the team, the code names are easy enough to guess."

"Well who would ever guess you're even alive?" Maki sighed, "All three of you were reported dead…"

"That's how it had to happen..." Nico pulled herself up and stepped over to Maki, hugging the younger woman. "Sorry… I didn't want to hurt you, but I didn't want to involve you either."

"It's okay," Maki returned the hug. "I'm here with you now."

Though Maki could not see it, Nico's face fell for a moment. "Yeah… you're here with me..."

They both suddenly noticed the engines cutting off and the helicopter blades stopping. The pair separated and Nico grinned, "Well time for you to come and see the lair of the Banshees!"

* * *

A/N (edited 26/03/18): Okay, so setting the rating to M played havoc with my ratings... I mean detracted from the true purpose of the story. I have toned down the offending scenes and am dropping the rating back to T... (edited section over)

But yes, here is a thing... my inability to get ahead of myself strikes again (I wrote the latter half of this in the last hour...) oh well...

Thanks for the initial reviews. I never quite seem able to accurately estimate how well something will be received. I can guess 'well' or 'badly' pretty accurately, but this exceeded expectations, at least for chapter 1. Let's see how it goes from here on out. I will be trying to update weekly, but we'll see.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Maki stepped out of the helicopter and into a large hangar, containing herself, the team who had just disembarked and two helicopters – both of which looked more like planes apart from the rotors – along with several pieces of maintenance gear. Behind her, she heard a loud noise and turned to see the hangar doors shutting. She caught a glimpse of the Tokyo skyline before the metal doors shut tight. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Nico, who motioned towards a door on the other side of the hangar.

"Let's go."

Maki nodded and the pair headed towards the door. They stepped through into a corridor, with plain grey walls and a few doors on each side which all of the women ignored. Maki simply followed, glancing at the doors as she passed. They were not labelled, and all were solid metal sliding doors with a glass panel in the wall next to the door, about the height the lock would be in a normal door.

"Fingerprint scanners, along with a passcode." Maki turned to Nico, who had just spoken. "These are mostly for storage."

"I see..." Maki nodded. That had not actually been what she was thinking about. As Nico continued forward, Maki took another look at the panels. She was not sure why, but they seemed familiar.

She realised she was lagging behind and hurried after Nico, shaking herself slightly. It was just because of how strange today had been, right? She was just tired, right?

She wished she were better at convincing herself that everything was fine.

As they turned into another corridor, she spotted another unmarked door and stopped. This one had no lock, and for some reason…

"Something wrong?"

"Eh? Er..." Maki blinked hard as Nico stared inquisitively at her. "Yeah… um… where's the uh… ladies?"

Nico raised an eyebrow then sighed, "Through here." She led Maki through the door that Maki had just been staring at and pointed to another door, which had the word 'Toilet' marked on it. "I'll wait for you."

Maki nodded and hurried in. Closing and bolting the door behind her, she took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. Tired purple eyes stared back at her, while she slowly dragged her hand through messy red locks.

She had known where the toilet was, before Nico had told her.

She had only asked to check.

She had been here before.

She just could not remember it…

* * *

Maki calmly stepped out of the toilet, having calmed herself. Nico was just standing there waiting for her. Nico nodded as Maki came out, then led the way through the building. Maki knew they were heading to the centre of the building, and she had a hunch it was to the command room.

The pair stepped into a large room filled with computers and monitors. Two of the other women were in there – one of whom Maki recognised.

She had taken off her helmet, revealing her long blonde hair, and the tall woman turned to look at Maki. "Nishikino, it's been a while."

"It's been about fifteen minutes, _Swan-san_."

Eli rolled her eyes then smiled, "You know exactly what I mean."

The other woman in the room, with long dark hair, turned around to look at them, brown eyes clearly amused. Maki noticed a long rifle in a stand by the computer, and guessed this was 'Archer'.

"Enjoying your reunion Eli?"

Eli tutted slightly, "Umi, don't you have a job to do?"

"Right, right…" Umi sighed and turned back to the computer. "Why am I the one doing this again?"

"You're the one who bet the shift on a game of Old Maid," Eli replied sternly. "Honestly, I would have thought you'd have learnt by now."

Maki raised an eyebrow and glanced at Nico, who quietly muttered "No poker face" through smiling lips.

"Anyway," Eli began, turning back to Nico and Maki. "I've already sent the others off for the night. You both must be tired, I suggest you get some rest. Nishikino, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to remain here for the moment. We can talk properly in the morning." She did not bother to explain any further, Maki catching her drift.

"Sure… of course."

Eli smiled a little, "Thank you for understanding. Nico, do you mind her bunking with you tonight?"

"Fine by me," Nico glanced at Maki who nodded.

"Well, good night then." Eli turned back to where Umi was tapping away at the computer.

As Maki was leaving, following Nico, she caught a glance of the screen, which contained several breaking news articles about the attack on the hospital. What Maki found more surprising was the Umi seemed to be typing up the details on the articles.

Nico glanced at Maki as they stepped outside. "They're not copying the news, they're writing the press releases."

"What?"

"Obviously, we know what happened. We don't want everyone knowing that though. Oh, officially, you're missing at the moment."

"I see..." Maki was not quite sure how to react. She was being made an accomplice to her own disappearance.

"Anyway, let's get going. I don't know about you, but I'm beat."

Maki nodded, then took out her phone to check the time – nearly four in the morning. She also noticed she had no signal.

"You won't get anything in here. The walls are made to block just about every type of transmission."

Maki nodded again, simply accepting it. Not that she was sure what she would do if she had signal. She would probably have a million calls and messages from her parents, trying to reach her. She wondered how they were holding up, with their only child missing. No, she was fairly sure she knew how they would be feeling…

"Hey, Nico?" Maki stopped walking as she spoke

"Yeah?" Nico turned to look at Maki.

"Did you ever tell your family that you were alive?"

Nico frowned, " _Nico Yazawa_ is dead. For their sakes and mine, it's best it stays that way."

"Why?" Maki was not angry, she just wanted to understand.

"All it would take is one slip-up and they could have a target on their heads. We deal with a lot of unpleasant people, who could decide to use our families, or friends, as leverage." Nico looked at the floor, "Believe me, I want them to know I'm alive, that I'm okay… but the illusion is pretty thin."

"So what about me? Aren't I a risk to the illusion now? Not just for you, but the others as well?"

Nico sighed, "Look… can we talk about this tomorrow? It's not a simple topic, and I am way too tired to do it justice."

Maki frowned, "I want to..."

"Maki! I promise I will explain everything properly, okay?"

Maki stared back in surprise. Nico had been incredibly calm until now, unlike herself almost. But the fire that appeared in her eyes for a moment reminded Maki of who this was.

"O...kay."

Nico drew a sharp breath and bit her lip, staring at her feet, "Sorry… just… tired."

Maki rolled her eyes, "Were you always tired when we were younger too then?"

"Hey! You don't have to bring all of that up. Besides, you were provoking me all the time!"

"Yeah, yeah, of course Nico."

"You did! Like when you said I wouldn't make it as an idol with my attitude."

Maki grinned, "Yeah, well you did have to change your attitude, didn't you?"

Nico pouted, "Only in public, I'm still 100% the real Nico inside."

"Of course you are. I can't imagine you being any other way."

Nico blinked, surprised, then grinned, "Aw~ Maki's just glad I'm still her Nico-chan, eh?"

"I never said that!" Maki gasped in surprise as Nico suddenly hugged her.

"You don't need to. Don't worry, I haven't changed too much."

Maki smiled and returned the hug, "You really should have, we're both adults now."

Nico simply laughed lightly. A few moments passed before Nico pulled back. "Come on, we should really get some sleep."

"Yeah..."

Nico stepped back, taking Maki's hand in hers as she did so, leading the younger woman down the hallways to her bedroom.

The room was fairly spacious, with a large double-bed, a desk, a bookcase, a sofa and a large closet. There was also a door into an en suite bathroom. Nico had stepped over to the closet as soon as they entered, and swiftly pulled out two sets of pyjamas, handing one to Maki.

"Uh… won't these be too small for me?" Maki asked, hoping her comment about Nico's size would not start another argument.

"I borrowed some of Umi's earlier, they should be about the right size. We kinda thought this would happen."

"That's quite some foresight..."

Nico grinned, "Well perhaps I should say I hoped this would happen. Now, excuse me a minute." Nico carried her own pyjamas into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Maki alone in the room.

Maki glanced around, noticing a number of picture frames on the bookcase and desk. They almost all contained photos of Nico, either with her family or friends. There was on of the whole Yazawa family, one of a much younger Nico in a middle-school uniform with her mother. Maki then saw a few she vaguely remembered, with her in them. There were a couple with Eli and Nozomi in as well, including a photo from their graduation, with Nico throwing a peace sign standing in front of her two friends – Nozomi smiling brightly and even Eli giving a small smile to the camera.

Then there were the idol photos.

Nico had photos of herself on stage, in the middle of her concerts. Then there were some from behind-the-scenes. There was even one with Maki in – she had written a couple of the songs which Nico had performed, and had helped out a couple of times in the early days, before Maki's training had taken over her life. The photos with her in must have been a good six years old. Maki smiled slightly at the fond memories, before moving to look at the photos on the desk.

There were three photographs on the desk. One again contained Nico with her siblings and her mother, all beaming. Given how old the siblings looked, it must have been shortly before Nico's 'death'. The other two were of Nico and Maki.

The first was from Nico's graduation. Maki smiled as she recalled how Nico had dragged her over to where Nico's mother was waiting with a camera. They had only been friends for a year by then, but even then, Maki had known that what the pair shared was special. She noticed how Nico was holding her hand in the picture and her own light blush. She laughed slightly at herself. Back then, she knew their friendship was 'special' but had no idea how she really felt. She was still just a child back then, of course.

She turned to look at the final photograph. The two women were just standing together, smiling for the camera. It looked like it must have been one of the most recent photographs, but Maki could not remember when it was taken. The pair of them were all dressed up, with Nico in a black dress and Maki in a ruffled blouse and blue skirt.

Maki frowned, that was one of her favourite blouses, but…

"I'm done!" Nico announced as she stepped back into the room, now in her pyjamas.

Maki started slightly, then breathed slowly, "Don't startle me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry."

Maki rolled her eyes, before stepping into the bathroom herself to change. When she stepped out, she found Nico taking a pillow off the bed.

"What're you doing?"

"I was gonna take the sofa..."

Maki shook her head, "I can't let you do that."

"Well I can't let you sleep there either, so..."

Maki sighed before stepping over to the bed and sliding in. "Come on, there's plenty of room for two."

Nico looked shocked, and Maki thought she caught the tinge of a blush, before the older woman placed the pillow back down on the bed, turned off the light and climbed in beside Maki.

The pair lay back and soon Nico's light breathing told Maki she was asleep. Maki soon found herself following, with only one worry remaining.

That blouse was one of her favourites… but she had only bought it last year...

* * *

A/N: So here we are again, with me just about making my self-set deadline. I am the best!

But yes, have a chapter of not a lot happening, sort of... There was going to be more stuff happening in the tail end of this chapter, but then I wrote about 800 words of just 'stuff'... don't ask me, it happened.

But yeah, hope you all enjoyed. Hope somebody actually reviews this this week (nothing last week... *cries inside*)... I mean... yeah, excitement, and stuff...

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Maki stirred, initially failing to remember where she was. The lack of a blaring alarm made her wonder if she had no shift today. Then again, after the last shift…

Her eyes flew open as she remembered what had happened. Her eyes rested on Nico's sleeping face. Her absurd reality solidified in her mind and in the form of the former idol by her side.

She slowly sat up and sighed. Her eyes landed on a clock on the wall opposite – it was gone 1PM. After their late night, she was hardly surprised they had slept in so late, though she was a little more surprised that the paramilitary outfit she was staying with would allow its members to do so. Glancing back at Nico, who was curled up with a sweet look on her sleeping face, Maki could at least understand allowing her to sleep in.

Maki stood and stepped into the bathroom, taking the chance to wash her face. Staring at herself in the mirror, she saw the same face she did every day. She was not sure what she had expected. Perhaps reality had not yet truly set in. The only oddity she could see was her own happiness.

Not that Maki was particularly unhappy most of the time. She had suffered after Nico's apparent death, but it had been a temporary depression. She was never the most emotional of people, but for once she could see the little hints of joy on her face, plain as day.

She was glad that the cause of said joy could not see the silly faces she ended up pulling in the mirror.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw a tired Nico pulling herself out of bed. Tired red eyes smiled at her, "Morning Maki."

"Good afternoon."

Nico raised a brow them glanced at the clock, cursing under her breath. "Ah well, we'll still be in time for lunch."

The pair quickly dressed, with Maki wearing the same clothes as the previous day. Nico dressed in a grey shirt and black trousers, a much plainer look than Maki was used to on the former idol. She had noticed a few flashier outfits in Nico's wardrobe when the woman had opened it to select her outfit.

Maki followed Nico out of the room and through the halls, soon stepping into a large room with a table and chairs. There was a partition with a counter, beyond which was the kitchen. At the table were three women, in the middle of eating.

The first woman, Maki recognised as Nozomi Tojo, former vice-president of their school's student council and an old friend of Nico's. As with Eli, Maki had met her when they were students, and also back-stage at a few of Nico's concerts.

The second woman was in the middle of talking excitedly about something as Maki entered. She had orange-brown hair and a bright grin. She was gesticulating with her free hand while using her other to eat between exclamations.

The final woman was much quieter, occasionally making the odd comment in answer to something in a soft voice. She had long brown hair, with a green bow tying a piece off to the side and very soft features. Maki had a hard time believing the woman was a combatant.

Nozomi seemed to notice the newcomers and smiled at them, "Good afternoon Niccochi, Nishikino-san."

"Ah, hi there!" The orange-haired woman had hurriedly stood up made her way over, holding out a hand. "I'm Honoka, or 'Mochi', the vanguard of our unit!" Maki shook the hand, still slightly bemused by that code name. Honoka grinned, "Mum and Dad ran a sweet shop."

"Eh?"

"You were wondering about my code name, weren't you?" Honoka grinned, "Everyone does."

"It certainly is unusual… though all of them kind of are."

The other woman had by this point stood up and walked over. Holding out a hand she introduced herself, "I'm Kotori, or 'Dove', I'm in charge of supplies."

"Nice to meet you… you must be the one who helped pull us up yesterday. Thank you."

Kotori smiled and nodded, "Yes… though it's just doing my job." Maki returned the smile.

"So how are the others doing?" Nico asked as she brought two plates through from the kitchen with some sandwiches on.

"Eli came to bed about 6AM, said that they'd just finished up what they needed to before passing out," Nozomi replied.

"I woke up and Umi was fast asleep next to me, I didn't want to disturb her..." Kotori spoke up.

Maki raised an eyebrow, then realised how rude it was and tried to return to a passive appearance. Nozomi had, however, clearly spotted her surprise. "Eli and I are a couple," she said simply, smiling at Maki.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to be rude… I just didn't think you were… that was inclined," Maki said, scratching the back of her neck. "N-not that there's anything wrong with it or… I'll just shut up now." She realised how flush her cheeks were from the burning sensation as blood rushed to her face.

The other women laughed, before Nozomi spoke, "It's okay, we won't take any offence… not unless you mean to cause it. Aside from Nico, we're all dating girls here… not that we really 'date' you know, being part of a secret organisation and being, well, 'dead'."

"Lots of movie dates, in our rooms," Honoka said with a side-grin.

"Well… that's… statistically unlikely… but… I imagine you don't have many options anyway..." Maki said with a chuckle.

"True, though I would have dated Eli regardless," Nozomi replied.

"Uh… I didn't mean to undervalue it…"

"Just shut up and eat Maki," Nico piped-up. "You're just embarrassing yourself now."

Normally, Maki would have argued, but she really did want an out from this conversation so quietly took the seat next to Nico and started eating.

There was a little chatter among the other four. It sounded like normal conversation for young women – talking about the latest episodes of shows, their other halves, including Honoka's girlfriend 'Tsubasa', and other random things that had been said or done around the place. Nothing to do with the mission from the previous day, as though it were hardly of importance.

Once they had finished eating, Nozomi stood, "You two need to talk to Eli, right? I'll go see if she's up yet."

"Thanks, we'll go wait in the briefing room," Nico replied.

"I should go see how Umi's doing. It was nice meeting you Nishikino-san," Kotori bowed as she followed Nozomi out.

"I should go see Tsubasa. See you guys later!" Honoka quickly followed the others out of the dining hall.

Nico leaned back and looked round at Maki. "You okay?"

"Yeah… just… this is still a bit weird."

"I can believe that. We try not to talk too much about missions and stuff if we don't have to. It's just a big ol' drag to get all our conversations dragged down by that sort of stuff, ya know?"

Maki nodded, understanding surprisingly well. "I get you… though the way doctors deal with it is dark senses of humour."

"Oh, we have a bit of that too, it comes with the territory." Nico stood, "Come on, we should go to the briefing room and wait for Eli."

Maki could not help but spot a hint of sorrow in Nico's eyes as they stepped out of the dining hall.

* * *

Eli arrived about a half hour later, quickly apologising for the delay, understandable though it was. The three sat around a long table, Nico sitting next to Maki while Eli sat opposite.

"So, Nishikino, this is what we're here to talk about..." Eli reached into a pocket and pulled out a small capsule. Within was a single blue pill.

"That… will wipe my memory, won't it?" Maki asked, already knowing the answer.

Nico bit her lip as Eli slowly nodded. "You catch on quickly. This will knock you out, you'll wake up in a hospital bed, having been 'found in the rubble', without a single memory of the last twenty-four hours, give or take. The doctor will diagnose you as having a mild concussion, and of course that coupled with the trauma will explain why you don't remember the incident. The fact that you were a target will mean some police protection, at least until your father bumps up your personal security. You'll occasionally feel like you're being watched by… maybe some fairy or other, but you'll live a normal enough life."

Maki nodded, "Is that the only option?"

Eli studied Maki's face carefully before replying. "No..."

Nico was staring at her feet, keeping her gaze away from Maki's sideways glance.

"Go on."

"Well, I won't beat around the bush. I have spoken to our employers, and we do need a team medic. If you would like to join us, you would be more than welcome."

Maki could feel Nico tense up as Eli spoke. She turned and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Is there anything else?"

"No, just a choice: live a normal life, or become a Banshee with us."

Maki nodded, then looked back to Eli, "Could we have a little time?"

Eli nodded, "You have about ten hours until we have to worry about the drug's limitations for memory wiping. If you still haven't reached a decision by then, we will require you to take it." Eli stood and turned to leave. "I'll be in the control room if you need me."

Maki nodded. As the door closed behind Eli, she turned to Nico and enveloped her in a hug.

"How many times?"

"What?"

"How many times have I been here before?"

Maki pulled back a little to let Nico raise her head. Crimson eyes filled with tears looked nervously up at her.

"Three, before now."

"And I chose to forget every time?"

"I asked you to."

Maki was surprised, but kept calm. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to be in danger. It's why I joined the Banshees in the first place."

Maki could feel the shaking of the woman in her arms. In that moment, Nico looked terrified, unlike anything she had ever seen… except when she was talking about the day she 'died'.

"They threatened Eli and Nozomi that time, just to get to me. What if next time it was Mama or my siblings, or… you?" Nico's tears began running down her face, "I couldn't bare to think about that… I wanted you to be safe."

"Nico..."

"You especially… if they hurt you because of me… I'd… I'd…" Nico was failing to form coherent words.

"Nico?"

"Dammit Maki… why'd this all have to happen?" Nico sniffed. "I just wanted to be an idol, and enjoy life with all my dearest friends by my side. I know it was a lot, but I was willing to work as hard as I needed to." Nico pulled back and Maki released her. "So Maki… please don't put yourself in more danger."

Maki nodded, and reached out to pick up the capsule. She examined it – an innocent blue pill. "Isn't there supposed to be a red pill too?"

Nico snorted, crimson eyes filled for a moment with a flash of mirth. "You said the exact same thing every time. I didn't even get the reference the first time. You told me to go watch the film."

"I'm glad you take my recommendations seriously."

Maki stared once more at the blue pill, then back at red eyes. Back and forth, forth and back. Blue and red… blue and red… blue and red… and red… and red…

"Maki, what are you doing?"

Maki placed the capsule back on the table, then turned to face Nico dead-on. "I'm making my choice. I've been a target four times already you say, like Hell am I going to let them get away with this."

"Maki…?"

"And you're asking me to forget you again Nico? I don't want to wake up in a world where you're dead, not again."

"But… but..."

"Nico, I love you."

Nico froze and blinked. Then again.

"I've loved you since… goodness knows, since the beginning, near enough at least. It took me a while to figure it out, but I love you. I am not going to endure a world without you again!"

Nico's face had turned to the floor again. Maki took a moment to breath. The confession had not been a part of her plan, whatever her plan had ever been, but it had to happen. She had to get all of her feeling across to Nico.

"You idiot..." Nico muttered.

"What…?" Maki was startled as Nico suddenly moved, grasping Maki's shoulders and pulling herself up, pressing her lips against Maki's.

She then pulled back, red eyes full of fury, passion and love. "I called you an idiot. But I guess you're _my_ idiot Maki-chan."

"Does that mean...?"

"Of course Maki, I love you too." Nico gave the least romantic confession possible, but Maki did not care.

Their lips approached each other again, for a gentler second kiss. As they parted again, Nico murmured "Just promise me you're sure about this."

"I am… Nico..."

Their lips pressed together again.

* * *

Maki sat on Nico's bed, incredibly nervous. They had talked to Eli and returned the drug. She had been asked to give over her clothes and belongings – her phone her keys and everything else. Her photographs had been copied off her phone at least, but everything else was taken away. They needed to be used to create the illusion of her death.

Another body would be used, the medical results would be faked. The damage to 'her' face would render it unrecognisable. Fake dental results, or something similar, would obfuscate the truth. It was scary how easily 'Maki Nishikino' would die.

Nico entered the room, "It's done."

Maki nodded.

"A female corpse has been found, believed to belong to Maki Nishikino, the owner's only daughter and an intern at the hospital..." Nico quoted the news article which would tell the world what had 'happened'.

"Well, I guess I'm dead," Maki said as Nico sat down on the bed next to her.

"I guess you are."

"Funny," Maki gently took Nico's hand with one of her own, and with the other gently tilted Nico's face towards her. "I've never felt so alive."

They kissed once again, hands soon roaming over each other. Maki soon felt her shirt unbuttoning as Nico pushed her back onto the bed.

* * *

Eli stared at the capsule in her hand, leaning back in the command chair in the control room. The media had swallowed the story, hook, line and sinker, just as always, and with it they had all signed Maki Nishikino's death certificate.

The door opened and Nozomi entered. "Everything okay?" she asked.

Eli nodded, placing the pill down on a table. "The usual people are making the usual guesses. Apparently there were a few people running their mouths about having seen some things…"

"Our usual friend?"

"Yeah, she's on the story, of course. She even picked up on the Nico-Maki link."

Nozomi sighed, "Well, let's just hope people keep ignoring her."

Eli nodded. "Yeah… though what's one more conspiracy theorist in the mix?"

"Even if she's right?"

Eli shrugged, "There's a thousand people who have made up theories about our interventions. So what if one is right? The more mad ones there are, the less likely people are to believe a single one."

Nozomi stepped over to her girlfriend and placed her hands on Eli's – very stiff, Nozomi noted – shoulders, gently massaging. "Just don't get complacent."

"I know Nozomi. Uh… thanks, that's just what I needed," Eli relaxed into the massage.

"You feel terribly taut, I need to help you relax occasionally."

Eli laughed a little, "Like a certain new couple?"

Nozomi leaned down and kissed Eli's cheek, "Maybe later hun."

* * *

Maki was now certain of what she had said earlier. Warm beneath the covers, pressed against Nico, feeling the warmth of their skin touching as they cuddled and drifted off to sleep…

Though she was dead now, she had never, ever, felt so alive.

 _Live to Die, Die to Live - Arc End_

* * *

A/N: Long weekends are the best! I give thanks to our pagan ancestors for creating this Easter thing (yes, it was the pagans, look it up)! But yeah, this is early, thanks at least in part to this long weekend.

Anyway, story arc 1 done! Huzzah! for the record, I am expecting four major story arcs, of which this will likely be the shortest. Next arc: _Even cats have only two lives._

So, for those who missed me messing with the story rating a few times - I was a little worried about Ch2 in its original format, so raised the rating. Then I realised just how much that made people not read it (an M-rated 'romance' story without sex? Yeah, that went great...) so I edited Ch2 to be more okay and lowered the rating back to T, and voila, people reading a reviewing again.

I'm really happy with this so far - both in terms of the actual story and the response it has received. Glad to see I haven't lost my touch (in so far as I have a touch...). I have, like, fans, what is this madness? If you really like me, you can now follow me on Twitter (where I promise I will communicate if poked... I don't have any followers, I am sad, please love me!1!1!) - user is on my profile here.

So yeah, shameless attempt to have some form of human connection over... see y'all around.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	5. Chapter 5

_Arc 2: Even Cats have only Two Lives – Arc Start_

Chapter 5

Maki followed Nico into the control room. Within were Eli and Umi, the former examining a sheaf of papers.

It was Maki's first morning 'dead' - an altogether better experience than it had any right to be. During breakfast, Nozomi had passed on that the pair were to go and speak to Eli first thing, so here they were.

"Morning you two," Eli said, looking up from her papers.

"Morning," Nico replied. "You got something for me?"

Eli handed over the papers, which Nico began skim-reading. "Honoka will be backing you up, and Nozomi's driving."

Nico nodded at the explanation, flipping to the next page of the report. "Do we know this guy's preferences?" Maki's eyes widened at the question.

"Page seven," Umi spoke up. "Third paragraph, I've passed it to Kotori."

"Good good… well I can't do anything about the height thing..." Nico pouted a little.

"Uh..." Maki raised a noise of questioning, glancing between the other three in the room.

"Yakuza boss we want info on," Umi said calmly, as though she were not talking about some of the more dangerous and unpredictable individuals in the country.

"Don't worry, Nico's a specialist at information acquisition," Eli said, noticing the worried look on Maki's face.

"Well of course. Don't worry Maki, I'll have him wrapped around my finger faster than you can say 'Nico-Nico-Nii.'"

Nico's self-assuredness was no surprise and did little to reassure Maki, but the other two sounded quite confident as well, allowing her some comfort.

"Okay… well just be careful."

"Always am Maki. I'll be back late..." Nico stood on tip-toes and kissed Maki's cheek, "so don't feel you have to wait up." She grinned, "But I know you will… see you later. Don't be too hard on her Umi!"

Maki only managed a weak "Later" before Nico stepped out of the control room.

Eli smiled a small smile, "Don't be too worried, she'll have Honoka and Nozomi with her in case things go South. Not that they will – she has a great track record, and she _is_ our infiltration specialist."

"I see..." Maki replied non-committally.

"Anyway, on to other matters. Your training starts today." Eli nodded in the direction of Umi, "Umi will be in charge of your training, with the others helping out as necessary."

Maki nodded, bowing to Umi, "I look forward to working with you."

Umi laughed, "First thing to learn, there is no need for formality here."

"Eh… but you're my senior so..."

"So is Nico, and I don't see you treating her like that."

Maki reddened, "Well… Nico is Nico, so..."

"Besides, we're a team, without ranks, just jobs. Even Eli here is the 'Controller' not 'Commander'."

"I see..."

"Come on, I'll show you around properly first." Umi led the way out and into the corridors. "So how are you doing?"

"Eh?"

Umi smiled a small smile, "It's disorienting, isn't it?"

"Yeah… I guess so," Maki sighed. "I honestly don't know how to feel… I'm also still kinda on a high from finding out that Nico is alive. So yeah, it's pretty crazy."

"I can't say I understand that last part, but we were all confused too when we started. You'll get used to it though."

"I'm not sure if that's very reassuring really."

Umi laughed a little, "Perhaps not… now..."

* * *

" _So, Idoliser, you're saying this is another incident?"_

" _Yes, definitely. The damage to the hospital is definitely not consistent with a gas explosion, and several suspicious individuals were spotted around the area. Additionally, Nishikino-san's body being found only after a delay is similar to what we've seen in several other cases."_

" _Do you think she has also been taken over to their side?"_

" _Quite possibly Sora-san, especially as she was close friends with Nico-Nii. If Nico-Nii was with the team involved, then it's likely that Nishikino-san would have gone along with her."_

" _That's quite the deduction Nya!"_

" _Th-thank you. Though there is more. On the same day as the incident, local police also took twenty individuals into custody, officially for various different reasons. However, through tracing their prior records, it seems all of these people are connected. Most of them have also been taken to a secure hospital to be treated for various injuries – bullet wounds, burns, broken bones and embedded metal, likely shrapnel from explosions."_

" _You think these are the attackers?"_

" _Very likely. Several of them were wanted for attempted kidnappings and extortion. Additionally, a name came up repeatedly."_

" _What name?"_

" _Keiichi Izawa, head of the Izawa family..."_

Eli spat out her coffee as she listened to the podcast. She grabbed a phone and hit a speed-dial, "Tsubasa? Eli here, I need you to look into something..."

* * *

"So, go through what I told you," Umi said.

"The Banshees were formed twelve years ago, to be counterparts to the military 'Ghost' units of the SDF. While Ghosts are formed of specialist military personnel, Banshees are primarily formed of former civilians. Banshee units are tasked with disrupting organised crime and other civil matters."

"Our unit, μ's or 'Muse' is a generalist team, paired with the smaller team 'A-Rise', who specialise in infiltration, espionage and information acquisition, who act as our support."

"Each member of our team has a primary role and a secondary role – Nico is Infiltrator and Vanguard, Honoka is Vanguard and Technician, Nozomi is Pilot and Quartermaster, Kotori is Quartermaster and Medic, you are Sniper and Controller, Eli is Controller and Analyst. I will be Medic, with secondary role to be determined."

Umi nodded, "Good, it took Honoka two weeks to learn that much..."

"It's… nothing much," Maki said, rolling her eyes a little.

Umi laughed, "Not for a doctor, I suppose."

"I'm not actually qualified..."

The pair were sat in one of the larger side-rooms, which was usually used as a meeting room, Maki was told. They had spent a while running through the basics of the set-up of the organisation.

"Though, going back to the team roles, it seems like there are still some holes," Maki said, twirling the ends of her hair with her hand.

"Which ones?"

"There's a lack of a dedicated analyst, and I'm surprised you got by with only one infiltrator and no primary medic. Plus it sounds like there are only three of you who are actually expecting to be in combat."

Umi nodded, "As to the first point – I help Eli out, as does Nozomi, but you're right, we're thin on that point. Infiltration we have A-Rise to back us up, and… well we've just fixed the medic problem. But as for the last point, I guarantee you we are all combat-capable. Honoka and Nico are our front-line, but everyone is able and ready to fight."

Maki nodded, then cracked a smile, "Even Kotori? She looks like she couldn't hurt a fly."

Umi laughed a little, "Yeah… even Kotori. She said once that she needed to be able to fight because she wouldn't forgive herself if Honoka or I got hurt and she could have done something to stop it." Umi's smile as she spoke about her girlfriend was warm and loving.

"You really love her, don't you?"

Umi blushed bright red, "O-of course I do." She looked at the floor, smiling in spite of her embarrassment. "I mean… how could I not?"

Maki smiled softly. "Sorry… I just, well… I never met any other girls who were… well, gay. It's kinda odd to be able to talk about these things without holding back."

Umi looked back at Maki again, nodding slowly. "Tell me, when did you realise you were a lesbian?"

"Near the end of my second year of high school. Nico had just started getting noticed, people were starting to talk about her. Suddenly all these people were going on about how cute she was, how 'sexy' she was and how they were her top fans… how they knew everything about her. I was really angry, I didn't know why. I knew that they didn't know everything about her, that I was a bigger fan of hers, that I cared more about her than any of her fans."

"Then there was the time some random fan online said they loved her. It pissed me off, again I wasn't sure why. Then I realised: they were saying something so massive so lightly, something that I wanted to say to her. Of course, I'd had a crush on her since I met her, but that was when I realised I loved her. Took some getting used to – I'd never loved anyone like that before."

Maki laughed, "Maybe I'm just Nicosexual… my curse I suppose."

Umi nodded, "Maybe so… for me I realised when I was young that I didn't like boys. After all, when other girls in middle school were getting giddy over the 'cute boys' in class, I just thought none of them were half as cute as Kotori. When I was even younger, I thought I'd rather be the prince than be rescued by one."

Maki laughed, "I'm still not sure whether Nico's my prince or princess."

"Well aren't you clearly the princess _Ma-hime_."

Maki rolled her eyes, "So I was told by all the other kids, once they learned to read the kanji in my name. I can't believe Mama and Papa decided to call their daughter 'True Princess'."

Umi grinned, "Well I'm sure Nico would say you're her princess now, with that big grin on her face."

"She is quite possessive."

Umi laughed again, then stood from her seat. "Anyway, we should get on. I would take you to Kotori to get you fitted for gear, but she'll still be helping Nico prepare for a while, so let's go to the shooting range."

Maki nodded, gulping a little. She had never fired a gun before, so this was the part of training she was worried about.

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

Maki was not so sure.

* * *

Maki had progressed quickly from not being sure to being incredibly relaxed. When she first accepted the pistol from Umi, she had carried it carefully, as though it were a priceless artefact, or prone to explode at any second. Now she was grinning like an idiot as she pulled the trigger, catching the target comfortably, though on the outer circles of the target.

She felt a strange buzz as she fired. The feel of the gun discharging excited her, in a way she could not understand. Perhaps, her medical knowledge told her, it was a side-effect of the adrenaline which no doubt coursed through her right now. Regardless, she felt powerful, and where some might have felt afraid of the power in her hands right now, she felt invigorated.

Umi was looking on approvingly as Maki continued to fire. After she emptied another clip. Umi raised a hand and Maki lowered the gun, ejecting the empty magazine and putting on the safety as she had been shown. Both women removed the ear muffs they had been wearing so that they could now talk.

"I told you that you'd be fine. You need to work on your accuracy, but that will just be a matter of time. How are your arms feeling?"

Maki slowly and experimentally moved her arms about, flexing her wrists and shoulders. "They hurt a little I suppose."

"Not surprising. That's something else that you'll get used to with time. You still okay to continue?"

"I think so."

"Okay..." Umi stepped over to a locker and opened it, taking out a much larger gun – an assault rifle which Maki recognised as the same model as Nico had used.

"Howa Type 89, standard issue assault rifle." Umi proceeded to demonstrate how to use the gun – loading, safety, burst mode, auto mode, semi-auto, bipod and finally firing. Maki watched as the target was annihilated but an automatic burst.

"You'll usually want it on semi-auto for practising your aim. Otherwise the targets tend to end up in pieces."

Maki nodded, and Umi passed the gun to her. "Your turn now..."

Maki reloaded the gun, set the mode to semi-auto, and readied herself. Umi replaced her ear muffs and nodded. Maki took aim and pulled the trigger.

* * *

A very blonde and well-dressed Nico sat in the back of a sleek black car opposite Honoka, who was dressed in a suit and had her hair dyed black. In front of her, Nozomi was driving. "We're nearly there Nico, five minutes."

"Thanks," Nico replied. She took out a mirror and examined herself. She wore colour-contacts, making her eyes look blue. She could easily have passed for Eli's, much shorter, sister, had she felt the need.

The car pulled up outside a large old-style house and Honoka opened the car door. "Serebryakov-sama," she said, holding the door open and holding out an arm.

Nico took the arm and stepped out, high-heels tapping on the pavement. The pair then made their way towards the front gate.

As they approached the guard at the front, Nico spoke up, "Good afternoon, I am Meiko Serebryakov, I believe Izawa-san is expecting me."

* * *

A/N: So I only just managed to finish this today... I am slightly unwell and very tired... urgh...

Yeah, I suspect this has more mistakes in it than normal... I will probably come back tomorrow and correct any I've found. But for now, I need to go to sleep... gotta be hyped for work tomorrow! Yay...

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Serebryakov-san, it is nice to finally meet you," Keiichi Izawa said as Nico entered. He was young for a family head, in his early thirties. He wore a suit and tie, and could have passed for a regular salaryman, in not for the hardened look in his eyes. The very way he held himself told Nico of his confidence – and that he was dangerous. She reckoned that he was a skilled fighter, though whether he was skilled with words would have to be seen.

"Izawa-san, please, 'Meiko' is fine. I know my family name is hard for many to say." Nico knelt on a cushion opposite where Izawa sat. Honoka was stood behind her. Around Izawa there were a half dozen Yakuza members. They were not visibly armed, to most peoples' gazes, but Nico's quick scan caught that three of them had pistols in their suit jackets. Unsurprising.

"Very well, Meiko-san. May I ask then, what does the Mafia want with us?"

'Meiko Serebryakov' was the half-Japanese daughter of a Russian mafioso, who lived in Japan. She had attended various high-class Japanese schools and one of its top universities. Currently, she was working for her father's _family_ to learn the ropes of the business.

"Cutting to the chase, good. Well Izawa-san, we were going to ask for you to investigate some… targets we wanted acquired. However, news from yesterday has led to the family being a little… cautious about this job request."

Izawa looked angry, "What do you mean?"

"The Nishikino fiasco. You couldn't capture one girl? And fourteen of your people were taken in by the police?" 'Actually twenty-three' Nico thought, 'But best not to show how much we really know.'

"There were extenuating circumstances..."

"Really?" Nico raised a blonde eyebrow. "What would those be?"

"There's this group – we don't know much about them. They show up every now and then and interfere with our jobs."

"Oh, so what do you know about them? How many are they?"

Izawa gritted his teeth at the question, "We think there are around ten of them total."

'Wow, right on the money, now at least,' Nico thought as she placed a hand over her mouth and faked suppressing laughter. "Ten? And they give you that much trouble?"

Izawa glowered and his men glanced between each other. "Are you making fun of us?" Izawa asked, rage in his eyes.

"Oh no, no… you're doing that yourselves."

"Why you..." one of the men reached for his gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Nico had stopped faking laughter and glared at the man reaching for his gun. "Or my friend will kill you before you've drawn that gun."

The man looked over at Honoka, who had been standing casually, as though uninterested. Now she was stood ready, her right hand within her own suit, clearly near to her weapon.

"You…!" The Yakuza looked as though he was going to respond to what he saw as provocation.

"Stop!" Izawa said, looking at his underling. "The Russians have long memories… and a penchant for revenge."

"So glad you understand your position," Nico said as Honoka relaxed a little behind her. "Now, I'm sure you can understand that, given your current situation, we can't just hand out work to you."

"Fine, you want to see we can produce results. We actually have someone on the radar right now. Nobody super important, but its a woman who decided to dig a bit too far."

"Oh? Find out about you did she?"

Izawa nodded, "Well, she found our trail, in spite of the police trying to keep it quiet. We were thinking she could be useful."

"Assuming you can persuade her to work for you," Nico said.

"Oh that won't be a problem. If she won't, she has a little friend we can make into a proper 'working girl'."

Nico kept on a mask of indifference even as she felt bile rise in the back of her throat. Holding off the urge to tell them of her disgust, she replied, "Well, who is she?"

"She goes by 'Idoliser' online – she used to cover idols, before she turned to conspiracy chasing. We're looking into who she really is. Shouldn't take too long to find her, I've got some wiz-kids on it."

"I see, we shall watch. Assuming they are just two normal women, it shouldn't be much trouble for you, I hope." Nico smiled an empty smile. "Now, I had best be off. Let me know how it goes." She stood and bowed slightly before she and Honoka were led out of the building.

Honoka held open the door and Nico climbed in. The sun had set while they were inside, and all around them the light was all artificial. Honoka climbed in after Nico, and the car swiftly departed.

"You get all that Fortuna?" Nico asked.

"Every word Fairy."

"Good, I'm sure Swan will _enjoy_ it." Nico leaned back as the car sped away.

"That was pretty quick," Honoka said as she relaxed in her own seat.

"They were pretty on-edge, not surprisingly. They probably wanted us gone as soon as possible."

Nico stared out of the car window, her thoughts drifting away from the encounter. They settled on a certain redhead and a soft smile formed.

A giggle startled Nico out of her thoughts and she looked round at the source. "Something funny Honoka?"

"Just never seen you so starry-eyed before. Thinking about your girlfriend."

Nico rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, you go totally gaga over yours, at least allow me to think about mine."

Honoka smiled, "I'm not complaining. I'm happy for you."

"Fairy's just stubborn Mochi."

"Hey!" Nico glared at the back on Nozomi's head for her comment, earning her smiling eyes in the car's mirror. She sighed and leaned back again. The teasing was unsurprising.

It was worth it though…

* * *

When Nico opened the door to her room, she was greeted by the sight of Maki asleep on the desk. A book lay nearby – clearly she had been reading while waiting for Nico. Nico glanced at the clock – 11PM. Between driving around to throw off any tails, meeting with Eli to discuss the results and other aspects of debriefing, it had taken Nico a while to get back.

Maki, on the other hand, must have been exhausted from her full day of training. But the silly woman had stayed up to wait for her. 'As I thought...'

"Idiot," she muttered to herself as she stepped over to Maki, gently shaking her. Purple eyes fluttered open and Maki slowly raised her head, looking up at Nico.

"I'm home," Nico said.

"Welcome back." Maki blinked a few times, staring up at Nico. "Why is your hair like that?"

Nico giggled. She had removed her coloured contact lenses, but had yet to deal with the dye in her hair. "Disguise, I haven't had a chance to remove the dye yet."

Maki rubbed her eyes, "Will it come out easily?"

"Special formula. Stays fine in water, but we have a chemical to remove it easily. Don't ask me how it works." Nico looked away briefly, "Would you… mind helping?"

Maki nodded slowly. The pair entered the bathroom and Nico handed her a bottle of clear liquid – it could have been water at a glance.

"Just run it through my hair and make sure it all gets covered, 'kay? It's not dangerous at all, so you can use your hands to get odd bits if you need to." Nico explained as she untied her hair, letting the blonde locked fall down her back. Maki rarely remembered how long Nico's hair actually was, given it was almost always tied up.

Nico bent forward over the sink, pulling her hair up and over her head so it lay in the sink. Maki slowly started pouring the liquid through Nico's hair. The chemicals smelled of something very clinical, a familiar smell to the trainee doctor.

The blonde colour started running in the chemicals, flowing out of Nico's hair, leaving the black strands Maki was familiar with. After getting most of the colour out, Maki ran her hands through the strands, covering the last parts, washing out the colour. She felt Nico shiver slightly as her fingers ran along her scalp.

It took only a few minutes, to Maki's quiet disappointment, to remove all the colour from Nico's hair. Nico then stood up and smiled, "Thanks… I think I'll take a shower to get rid of the smell."

"Okay..." Maki was about to leave when Nico tugged at her shirt. Maki looked around to see Nico looking at her feet, then glancing at the shower, then at Maki. Maki smiled and nodded slowly.

* * *

Eli was surprised when the door to the control room was opened. It was nearly midnight – most of the others would have returned to their rooms by now. Kotori was due to take a shift from about 4AM, as someone always had to be available in case of emergency, but until then she had expected nobody.

When she looked around, she saw the short brunette controller of A-Rise, Tsubasa.

"Evening Eli," the woman said as she stepped in. She held a thick file under her arm. "How's life?"

"Interesting," Eli replied. "I take it you've got some results on 'Idoliser'."

"Plenty," Tsubasa offered the file to Eli, who opened it up and started reading. "We found a few of her older pieces, before she was properly careful with hiding her identity. An IP check, running an address check and there you have it."

Eli nodded, "Hanayo Koizumi… and this 'Sora' girl is Rin Hoshizora… well I can certainly believe that one."

"They never originally intended to be top secret, so..." Tsubasa shrugged.

"So how long do you reckon it'd take someone else to find this?"

"Well it took us a little bit of luck and ten hours, so… I'd say it will be a day or two if they're decent."

"Good… that gives us some time."

"Oh?" Tsubasa raised an eyebrow.

"Izawa is planning to get the pair. 'Serebryakov' found that out earlier."

"Oh, well..." Tsubasa sighed, "I suppose you want us to keep tabs on them?"

"Yes."

"Sure, no problem. Those guys aren't exactly subtle."

"Thanks," Eli continued flicking through the report. "You guys found everything on her..."

"Favourite food is on page twenty-seven," Tsubasa replied with a grin. "White rice by the way."

Eli rolled her eyes, "Well if we need to set a trap for her, I know what to use as bait then."

"You never know. Was everything alright with today's mission by the way?"

"Yeah, no problems. Honoka should be back in her room by now," Eli replied, knowing what Tsubasa really wanted to know.

"Well, I might just go drop in then."

Eli chuckled, "You've earned a break. Good work with this."

"Any time Eli. Anything else you need?"

"Not tonight."

"Not from me at least," Tsubasa grinned.

"I have the first night shift, so I'm not get any relaxation tonight," Eli replied, blushing slightly. "But haven't you got someone to see?"

"Yeah. Well, g'night."

* * *

"So how was your first day of training?" Nico asked. She and Maki were sat next to each other on the bed, having finished their shower, with Maki gently combing Nico's hair.

"Tiring. The three hour exercise regime in the middle was a bit of a shock to the system."

Nico's frame trembled with laughter at that. "No surprises there. Umi does love her exercises, and I can't imagine you've done many up 'til now."

Maki pouted a little but did not deny it, knowing that Nico was correct. "How did you find it when you started?"

"Not too bad, but I'd been doing exercises as an idol for years," Nico shrugged. "I guess these were different, but I had the stamina down at least."

"You were a natural with the guns though, right?"

Nico took a moment to answer. "We all reacted quite differently… Eli and Nozomi were still getting over what happened the first time they held guns." Maki's hand froze, the comb hovering in mid-air away from Nico's head. "I… was strangely okay."

Nico turned her head and glanced at the comb before turning back. Maki shook herself and started combing again. "Was it hard to get over it?"

"I'm still not, not really. Sometimes when I close my eyes I still see hers staring at me. It comes and goes. You never forget the first person you see die. You know that right?"

Maki's breath hitched. "Yes..."

"Who was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"A&E patient, an old woman who fell down the stairs. She hit her head… brain haemorrhage. She made it to the hospital, but died before we got her to the operation room."

"I see." Nico took a deep breath, "You know you'll see more people die, right?"

"I know I may have to kill them."

"That's good resolve..." Nico replied dryly. "But are you prepared to do it?"

Maki bit her lip, "I don't know."

"Of course not. I killed in hot blood the first time. After that… it was easier."

"I am in blood stepped in so far..." Maki muttered.

"What's that from?"

"Macbeth, Shakespeare."

"Haven't heard it before. He as famous as me?"

Maki laughed at the comparison. "Even in Japan, probably yeah."

"These days I'm not surprised. I'm near enough forgotten after three years..."

Maki sighed as she put down the comb, finished with her labour. She reached out and hugged Nico, pulling her back. "I would never forget you. Assuming no mind-affecting drugs are involved."

A little chuckle was her response. Nico turned herself in Maki's arms and kissed her.

"I should hope not," Nico replied in a whisper as their lips parted, before they quickly pressed together again.

* * *

A/N: There, have a thing, hope you liked it.

Not much happening in this chapter per se, but... such is the way of intermediary chapters. It is a thing, it suffices, huzzah! I wrote it all today, having spent all week playing through Fatal Twelve - a visual novel I can highly recommend (it's like Future Diary, with less predicting the future and more lesbians).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, reviews etc are always appreciated... see you next time.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	7. Chapter 7

Content warning: Severe injuries (amputation) and panic attacks are included in this chapter. Not in gory detail, but please be advised.

Chapter 7

"Kayo-chin! I'm home!"

Hanayo Koizumi looked up from her computer as her girlfriend, Rin Hoshizora, entered grinning. "Welcome home Rin-chan."

Rin stepped up and kissed the top of Rin's head. "Find anything interesting today?"

"Someone finally took the bait, dug up the old videos."

"Not the Yakuza, right?"

Hanayo shook her head, an excited and determined smile on her face. "I don't know who it is, but I know it's not the Yakuza. I've kept an eye on their attempts to find us, and they are way too clumsy to do something like this. I barely noticed these guys, they're good, no, incredible. But there's one other thing."

"What?" Rin asked as she reached over and started massaging Hanayo's shoulders.

"They're incredibly defensive. They seem to be using a huge portion of their resources on making themselves untraceable."

"You think it's Them?"

"Yes, They are the only ones it could be, and if it's them, then..." Hanayo suddenly spun her chair around and smiled up at Rin, placing a hand on the lower part of Rin's left leg, feeling cold metal where flesh and blood should have been. "...we can find out what happened that night."

Rin smiled and pulled Hanayo close, "Yeah… we can."

* * *

"OHMYGODRIN! You are the best!"

Rin laughed, "I just got my pay check for the last tournament, and somebody said she really wanted to see Nico-Nii live again. Anya-thing for you Kayo-chin!"

Hanayo had the excited smile she reserved for idols and Rin's races. The young athlete took it as a good thing that Hanayo loved her as much as idols – Hanayo adored idols after all. The pair were near the front of the line for the concert, having arrived a few hours early. Hanayo always insisted on doing so if at all possible, and Rin humoured her girlfriend. After all, it meant more time with her Kayo-chin.

Hanayo suddenly hugged Rin again and Rin grinned. Tonight would be a good night.

* * *

Rin stared emptily at the ceiling. She felt barely alive. There had been a flash, she had pushed Hanayo behind her, the roar of an explosion and then… pain.

Hanayo was leaning over her, crying. There were other people crying around them, but Rin only heard Hanayo. She managed to move a little, but felt a shot of pain through her left leg. She managed to raised her head a little, and saw what was left of her leg.

Had it been blown clean off, it might have been less horrible to look at. Immediately Rin knew she would never walk with that leg again.

She heard staff shouting to evacuate everyone safely, as medics rushed in to help the wounded. As a paramedic reached her, Rin felt her hold on consciousness slipping. The blood loss, probably. Her vision blurred. She could only feel one thing as she blacked out – Hanayo's hand in hers.

* * *

" _Hoshizora-san, I am afraid we had no choice but to amputate."_

…

" _Rin-chan… I'm so sorry..."_

" _It's not your fault Kayo-chin."_

…

" _...six dead and three people are reported missing, presumed dead: the idol Nico Yazawa who was due to perform, and two of her team. There were, also a large number of casualties in the audience, including Olympic athlete Rin Hoshizora..."_

…

" _What do you mean you don't know who did it?"_

" _Koizumi-san, I understand but..."_

" _They ruined Rin's life, and you don't even know who did it?"_

…

" _There's more to what happened that night. There wasn't nearly enough rubble to hide three bodies, and Nico-Nii wasn't even on stage. Rin, I'm going to find out who did this to you."_

* * *

They had both changed since that day. Rin had to re-direct her entire life. She could run with a special prosthetic, but not in the same races. Where once she had been front page news, if only occasionally, now most people forgot about her, soon after the incident. There was the initial outpouring of sympathy, a while of the media voicing their support, but that died away as soon as something new happened.

She still competed in what she could, but mostly had to make do with becoming a coach. Her old team-mates still kept in touch, but a gap slowly formed. It was only natural… especially as Rin's old energetic attitude became more and more of an act.

Hanayo had thrown herself into every conspiracy theory she could, trying to dig through to some form of truth, to the exclusion of almost everything else. For a while, Rin had been tempted to try to dissuade her, until she found out that, through her streams and advertis 'Idoliser' was making good money. That, and the fact that Hanayo was good at it, persuaded Rin to keep quiet.

It was when Hanayo mentioned the Yakuza that Rin became worried again. The mysterious 'Them' that Hanayo was usually chasing did not worry Rin much – they likely did not exist. But the Yakuza were very real and very dangerous. Messing with Yakuza could get them killed, or worse. But she knew Hanayo cared more about her than 'the truth' - she would not put them in danger and she knew what she was doing.

Staring at their bedroom ceiling, with Hanyo cuddled up against her, Rin just hoped that Hanayo really did know what she was doing.

* * *

When Umi had left her in the middle of exercises, Maki had thought nothing of it. When she came back with two files in hand, however, Maki quickly realised what the look in her eyes meant.

"Here, mission files for tonight." Umi handed her one of the files.

"I'm on it?"

"Yes, though you should be staying in the helicopter, assuming all goes to plan."

"Does it ever?"

Umi laughed, "No, of course not, which is why you'll be fully armed."

Maki opened the file. The first thing she noticed was a note about herself. The line 'Assigned Code Name: Himiko' caught her eye. "Really?"

"Better than Nico would have suggested. Would you have liked to be 'hot stuff'?"

"Nico wouldn't want other people calling me that. She gets jealous easily."

Umi raised an eyebrow, "You sound like you've been dating for far longer than half a week."

"We may as well have been."

Umi nodded sagely, "I understand."

Maki turned her attention back to the file in her hand. "The Yakuza guys again?"

"Yeah, we're hoping to distract their operations to buy us more time before they act again."

"This about that streamer?"

Umi raised an eyebrow, "Nico mention her to you?"

"Something about an old fan of hers causing problems."

Umi nodded, "Something like that."

"What's the story?"

"Nothing terribly complicated. 'Idoliser' used to be a streamer who was obsessed with idols. Nico was one of her favourites. We knew she was caught up in Nico's final concert and didn't believe the official story. She's been hunting for the truth ever since."

"So she's just obsessed with Nico?"

Umi shook her head, "We thought so for a while, but we found out who she recently. Her girlfriend is Rin Hoshizora."

Maki looked thoughtful, "Rings a bell…"

"It should do, she was Japan's short distance track ace. She brought home two bronze and a silver from the last Olympics. She was slated to get a gold at the next one."

"But..."

"After she came home, she took her girlfriend to see the girlfriend's favourite idol, and was caught in an explosion. She lost her left leg, valiantly protecting her lover. At least, that's all the papers remember. They quickly forgot about her though..."

"Such is the way of things."

"It puts Idoliser's goal in better perspective. She has a personal reason for finding the people who hurt her girlfriend."

Maki looked aside and muttered "I smell a rat..."

"What?"

"So much started that night… it all feels… strange. You don't have a connection to that concert do you?"

Umi stared at Maki, blood draining from her face, "I don't, but… shit… it never occurred to me..."

"What?"

"Come with me..."

* * *

Honoka was practising with her rifle when Umi and Maki entered. Through her ear muffs and the noise of her gun, she failed to notice them until she emptied her clip and put the gun down. A she removed the ear muffs, she turned and spotted the pair, startled. "Oh, guys, hi there!"

"Honoka, I need to ask you something..." Umi bit her lip.

"Yeah, what is it?" Honoka seemed oblivious to Umi's nervousness.

"It's about Yukiho."

Honoka's smile remained on her face, but Maki instantly knew that it had changed from genuine to fake as soon as Umi had spoken. As neither of the others spoke, Maki opened her mouth, "Erm… who is…?"

"My sister," Honoka replied. "What was is Umi?"

"When she was… injured… where was she?"

"At a concert."

"Was it Nico's?"

"I… I don't know..." Honoka blinked, "I… think it was on the news… but I barely paid the reporting any attention… I… guess it probably was… she was a fan, and it would have been that time… sorry, it was whileIwas at... university... Idon'tremember..."

Honoka's words were rolling into one another and spacing strangely. Maki stepped over and put a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes. "Honoka, breath for me. Slowly, deep breaths..." Honoka did as told. "Good, now come and sit down, try to calm down."

"S-sorry Honoka..." Umi muttered feebly.

Honoka shook her head, "It's okay Umi..."

Maki stood by Honoka, keeping an eye on her breathing until it reached a natural rhythm. "You okay now?"

"Yeah, thank you," Honoka still seemed very subdued, but okay.

Maki nodded and looked at Umi, who looked incredibly uncomfortable. "We'll talk about all this later, we need to get ready for the mission, right?"

"Y-yes, you're right." Umi nodded and stepped over to Honoka. "Come on, let's sort your rifle out Honoka."

"Yeah," Honoka nodded and smiled, though the smile seemed weak.

Maki left the pair to it and stepped out to go and prepare herself. She was surprised to see Nico leaning against the wall opposite the firing range's door.

"Everything okay?" Nico asked.

"You overheard?" Maki asked as they started walking.

"Some of it. Honoka have an attack?"

"It's happened before?"

"I don't know the details, and I only saw it happen once before… I was talking about my family, and suddenly… she panicked. Kotori explained her sister was in hospitals for the last few years."

"That long? Is she in a coma or something?"

"Not that kind of hospital… she… saw things that your average person couldn't handle. The effect it had on Honoka… well, I think she blames herself."

"She shouldn't, but..."

"...she does anyway."

"Not uncommon."

Nico nodded. "We're all a bit broken, it comes with being dead." Nico smiled wryly, "Some of us are in more pieces than others."

"I guess I need to read through everyone's medical records at some point..."

Nico rolled her eyes, "Just a little light bedtime reading."

"I'm expecting you to have a disorder that makes you be sarcastic."

"Nah, that's working as intended. Now come on, we'd better get you all your gear."

* * *

Maki watched the world outside as they flew by. She was sat in the helicopter, as they flew to the target location – one of the Izawa family's locations, from where they ran a number of their 'activities'.

She glanced around at her fellows. She honestly had trouble telling them apart in the suits. Nico was easy, thanks to her height, as, conversely, was Eli. The rest, however difficult to tell apart – though Nozomi's bust, and the fact she was piloting, helped. The gear was fairly bulky, so other proportions were somewhat masked, and the helmets deliberately obscured their faces entirely.

Honoka seemed to have recovered from her attack earlier, though Umi still seemed worried about her. Kotori had also seemed quite worried, but Honoka was acting cheerfully again, if not quite as cheerfully as everyone seemed to expect.

Nico tapped Maki on the shoulder. _"You ready?"_

" _Yeah… I think so."_

Nico nodded, _"Good, let's give 'em hell!"_

The helicopter stopped moving, then slowly hovered down. Eli stood and everyone looked to her. _"Let's go girls! Muse, Mission Start!"_

* * *

A/N: Mental trauma go!1!1!

But yeah, here you go, an interesting chapter. Honestly, Rin's injury was something I added in very late in the game (read, I only decided to do it for certain when I started writing this chapter), similar for the details of Honoka's problems. Comedy this is not... unless your sense of humour is as messed up as my own.

Yeah, mental illness is not a fun topic for anyone, and one never knows how readers will react. Especially as everyone's experiences are so different. Eh... we shall see how this goes.

Also, Rin probably comes off very OOC, which is kinda intentional, but probably not helped by my inability to write genki characters. Oh well, I'm sure this will all come out fine in the wash, or something...

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.

Edit 22/04/18: Just a couple of hours after posting, I noticed I had missed some line-breaks. It annoys me that the FF editor doesn't pick up the ones from my original document, ah well, fixed now...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Nico and Honoka lay hidden close to the main entrance to the Yakuza den. The play as noisy, full of activity – gambling, drugs and prostitution. Shouts of winners, groans of pleasure and cries of pain all formed a cacophony around the building, no matter where you were.

The noise at least made it easier to sneak close to the front.

There were four guards standing around outside the front, chatting to each other. They all had weapons – pistols and knives. Nico and Honoka slowly raised their pistols, which had silencers attached. They took aim and silently Honoka raised three fingers to Nico.

Two…

One…

Zero.

Two of the Yakuza collapsed to the ground, their friends suddenly startled. They had failed to hear the dampened woosh of the guns firing, and seconds later they both buckled over with bullet wounds in their backs.

The two women moved out of the bushes they had hidden in. They approached the double-door entrance and Honoka gently tried the doors. It was unlocked and she glanced back to Nico, signalling to her. Nico replaced her pistol in its holster and readied her rifle while Honoka kept her pistol in one hand and took out a grenade in her other.

The women leant gently against the doors, each holding their guns to point through the gap between the doors. Inside, the lights were on, but neither saw anyone in the entry hall. They pushed the doors open and stepped into the hall, quickly scanning the area and positioning themselves back-to-back. They slowly advanced into the building.

They had seen a plan of the building earlier and knew the route to their targets. They moved down the hallway, until they reached the third door on the right, which they approached. Behind the door they heard the sounds of men talking, relatively quiet compared to the noise pervading the rest of the building.

Nico raised her rifle towards the door, setting her gun to full auto, and Honoka grasped the handle. Honoka threw the door open and pulled herself back before Nico opened fire on the Yakuza within. The five within had no time to react, and the two who managed to evade the initial volley were quickly taken out by careful shots from Honoka.

The room was piled high with various containers, which they knew contained drugs. Nico noticed, while she was reloading, that one of the containers was open – the Yakuza seemed to have been enjoying themselves.

There was shouting from other parts of the building. Honoka quickly pulled an explosive out and set it up, leaving the door just slightly ajar and attaching a wire to it. If anyone opened the door, the explosives would go off.

Once the trap was set, the pair hurried down the hall and hid in the next room over – a regular storage room, sans drugs or people. It did not take long for the trap to be tripped. The pair stepped out to see a group of three injured Yakuza and the wreckage of an explosion.

Now the entire building was aware of their presence. Yakuza were shouting all around the building and their guests seemed to be shouting along with them. The banshees set about planting explosives throughout the large storage room.

In the distance, they heard the shattering of glass and more shouting. Their radios buzzed, _"Mochi, Fairy, this is Archer. We beat the house."_

" _Roger that Archer,_ _Mochi here,_ _"_ Honoka replied as she stood from laying the explosives. _"We're about to have a smoke._ _"_ She looked over at Nico who had just stood as well and gave Honoka a thumbs-up. _"We'll go relax after this, you go to the top."_

" _Roger that Mochi."_

The pair hurried onwards, quickly taking a turning further into the building, wanting to avoid anyone who tried to escape via the main entrance. They moved through back-hallways they knew would be empty. Once they were far enough away, Honoka took out the remote trigger for the explosives they had planted.

They both felt the explosion, as well as hearing it. The front of the building was likely inaccessible from the explosion. Not that they needed to go there again.

The pair continued to move through the back of the building. They encountered a few of the Yakuza, but they were easily taken out. They eventually reached their target location: a trap door. They opened it, revealing a short ladder leading into tunnel beneath the mansion. The pair dropped down and advanced through the underground.

As they got further in, the sounds from above became fainter. The tunnel sloped downwards and turned a few times, before they saw it opening up ahead.

Nico reached to her belt and detached a smoke grenade. Honoka readied her rifle and Nico armed the grenade and rolled it down the tunnel.

The pair rushed in as the smoke gave them cover. They burst into the room, opening fire through the smoke. Three Yakuza were there, and soon there were none.

The room was large, with several doors coming off it. From some of the doors, the women heard movement, startled voices and cries. One of the doors opened and a half-naked man looked out. His eyes widened in terror seconds before Nico shot him.

Nico approached the room, ignoring the dying man. Within the room was a table and a bed. On the bed was a woman, with nothing one except a pair of handcuffs, chaining her to the wall. Her eyes looked dead. She stared at Nico, a small piece of life returning to them.

"Are you… police?" she weakly asked.

" _Something like that."_

Nico took out her pistol and shot the chains holding the woman, freeing her hands.

"Thank you, oh my god… I..."

Nico lowered the gun and took out a plastic dispenser, like the sort that dispenses sweets. Within the plastic were blue pills. She suddenly grasped the woman and forced her mouth open, putting the pill in.

" _I'm sorry… sleep now, when yo wake up, you'll be safe."_

The woman struggled, but the surprise made the resistance futile. She swallowed the pill, and Nico let her go. "What was that?"

" _Good night. You won't remember this..."_

"What… do you?" The woman blinked a few times, her vision failing. She collapsed on the bed. Nico turned and left the room. She had a dozen more to deal with…

* * *

Umi watched from the roof of a nearby building. She was lain down flat on the rooftop, her sniper rifle in her hands, aiming down towards the Yakuza building, near one of the sides, away from where there was now a large hole in the roof from the earlier explosion. One of the higher-up members was in the building today, and it was her job to eliminate him. She watching over where his car was parked, waiting for him to try to make his getaway.

As she watched, a group of Yakuza stepped out of a side-entrance. They seemed to be scanning the area and encircled the car. A couple more stepped out, flanking another man. Umi switched to looking down her scope, the man now in her sights. The two men flanking her target were doing a good job of making her life difficult, blocking her shot much of the time.

As one of the Yakuza opened the car door and the boss climbed in, Umi saw her chance. The car had bullet-proof glass, but was unlikely to be strong enough to stop her sniper rounds. As the man sat back in the car, she crawled to her right, angling herself so she could shoot through the back window at the man. While his bodyguards were climbing into the vehicle, Umi lined up her shot and fired.

The first shot was a little too low, catching the man in the shoulder. As he jerked in pain, Umi fired again. The second shot met its target, entering the bottom left of his skull. The moment she was sure she had succeeded, Umi pulled herself backward, as the Yakuza started searching for her. It would not take them long to work out where she had fired from, but she hoped to be long gone by the time they could react.

As she ran, she activated her radio. _"Swan, this is Archer, both targets eliminated."_

" _Roger. Return to point A, we're still here."_

" _Roger that, on my way."_

Umi hurried off the roof, dropping down into a back alley. She had her rifle slung over her back and had drawn her pistol. Checking both directions, she jogged away from the Yakuza building. She ducked into a few different alleyways and soon she reached an open patch of unused land. As she approached, a door opened in thin air, revealing the location of the helicopter. Umi climbed inside and Kotori slid the door closed behind her.

"You okay?" Kotori asked, taking off her helmet.

"Yeah..." Umi had removed her own helmet and was breathing a little heavily.

"I'm glad." Kotori gave her girlfriend a brief kiss on the cheek before putting her helmet back on and returning to her post.

" _All good?"_ Eli asked, her helmet still on, stepping over to Umi.

"Yes, both targets eliminated, I don't think anyone even saw me."

" _Good job, now we just..."_ a burst of static on all their radios interrupted Eli.

" _This is Fairy, Mochi and I are pinned in the underground. Come in, anyone!"_

" _This is Swan, I hear you Fairy. What's your situation?"_

Umi had replaced her helmet to hear the conversation properly, while all the others seemed more alert than a moment before. She noticed that Maki's hand had immediately gripped her rifle when Nico had started speaking.

" _We're in the tunnel down to the brothel. There's about seven of their guys above us, round the next corner. They only have pistols I think, but we can't go out of cover."_ Her words were punctuated by gunfire.

" _Understood, we'll come pick you guys up."_ Eli looked around the helicopter. _"Dove, Himiko, with me."_ Umi bit her lip. She wanted to go help, but knew her equipment and skills were not suited for the fight they would have. Eli looked at her, _"Archer, you coordinate."_

" _Sure."_

" _Let's go girls."_

Kotori opened the door and jumped out of the helicopter, with a brief look back to Umi. Eli stood to cover Kotori first, then jumped out as well. Finally, Maki jumped out herself, slightly less elegantly than the other two. Umi closed the helicopter door behind them.

" _They'll be fine."_ Nozomi's voice interrupted Umi's worries.

Umi realised Nozomi was just as worried as her. _"I know… they always are."_

* * *

" _Set your rifle to burst. We'll go in through the back entrance. We may encounter enemies trying to escape. If they are armed don't take chances."_

Maki followed Eli's instructions. She was following behind the other two, with Kotori at the front, each of them spaced a few feet apart. As they approached the back of the building, they heard the distant sound of sirens. The building was burning slightly, so it could be the police or the fire brigade. The police were fine – the right people knew about what was to cover up. The fire brigade would be worse, if they saw something they shouldn't.

Kotori stopped at the end of an alley across the road from the target. She raised her gun, clearly aiming at something. Eli had flattened herself against the side of the building and Maki copied, still a few feet behind.

A few seconds later, Kotori fired two bursts. Two cries of pain were heard, then Kotori was sprinting across the road. Eli immediately followed and Maki soon after. They rushed past the two downed Yakuza, to the back entrance. Kotori threw the door open and the three of them stepped inside, sweeping the area.

" _Clear."_

" _Clear."_

" _C-clear."_ Maki steadied her breathing. She needed to keep calm and save Nico.

" _This way,"_ Eli said, hurrying into a side-room. There, they instantly saw the trap-door and heard gunfire below.

Eli pulled out a mirror, attached to the end of a metal stick and held it over the trap door, circling it. She signalled the direction of the enemy, then for Kotori and herself to drop down. Maki, she signalled, would stay above. Of course, Maki realised, that would stop them ending up cut off if another group came along.

She nodded and Kotori dropped down, shortly followed by Eli. Maki moved into a corner of the room – where she had a view of the two doors into the room and the trap door. She raised her gun and listened carefully. There were the sounds of gunfire from below and also the shouts from above. People were running about, though most had already escaped the building.

She heard a few people running out the back entrance. As another set of footsteps passed her in the hallway, another round of gunfire sounded below. The footsteps paused, and she heard the click of a gun. She turned to the door, raising her rifle, trying to quiet her breathing. The footsteps approached the door and then a figure began to enter.

Maki pulled the trigger as soon as she saw the man.

The three-round burst caught him square in the chest and he collapsed backwards, crying out in pain. Maki gasped to let out the breath she had ended up holding.

She carefully approached, seeing the man was unconscious, most likely from his body going into shock. His breathing was failing. She reckoned one of the bullets had pierced a lung. He would drown in his own blood.

Maki switched the gun to semi-automatic mode and aimed at the man's head. His body might wake him up in desperation. He would only suffer if it did. She fired a single shot into his head and his chest stopped moving.

Maki set her gun back to burst and stepped away from the body. She realised she was not shaking. She was beyond that point. She forced herself to breath normally. Then the shaking started. She heard noise from below and panicked, turning her gun down towards the trap door.

" _Himiko, it's us,"_ Eli spoke through the radio and Maki instantly moved her gun away.

" _Sorry..."_

" _Well you didn't shoot us at least."_ Even over the encoding, Maki would know the sarcasm of Nico's voice anywhere. She would have laughed, but she heard something else in Nico's voice – pain.

As the four reached the end of the tunnel, she saw one of them – Nico was being helped by two of the others. Nico's leg was bleeding.

" _Shit..."_

" _I'm okay Himiko."_

" _We'll see about that..."_

" _Yes Sensei, but let's get out of here first."_

Kotori climbed out first, then helped pull Nico up, before Honoka and Eli climbed up the ladder and the five of them made as hasty a retreat as Nico's injury would allow. There was no remaining resistance and they got away a good few minutes before the emergency services arrived.

* * *

A/N: Woo, action! That thing I always find surprisingly much easier to write than anything else.

Welp, not too much to say on this. Hope you enjoyed, please review and all that, and I'll see you guys next time.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rin stirred, blinking as she looked around. She noticed quickly that her girlfriend was absent. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was still early – especially given it was a Saturday. She pulled herself up and clambered out of bed. She stepped out of the bedroom and heard the tapping of a keyboard from Hanayo's study.

Hanayo was sat at her computer, typing quickly, eyes fixed on her monitors. She did not seem to notice Rin's entry, until Rin stepped up to her and hugged her from behind. "R-Rin-chan! I didn't hear you come in."

"Evidently..." Rin leaned down and kissed the top of Hanayo's head. "Nya… What are doing up so early?"

"There was an attack on those Yakuza guys yesterday. The police have taken loads of them into custody, and two of their highest-ranking members were killed." Hanayo pulled up some news articles on the subject, which showed the information she had just described.

"Wow… maybe after the hospital the police got some more leads on them."

"No… there are no reports of any police casualties. There's no way it was the police. It must have been _them_."

Rin bit her lip, "Nya… You think so?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense."

Rin sighed quietly before kissng Hanyo's head again. "If you're sure..."

* * *

Eli sighed as stared at the screens around her. She was far too tired to still be working. She had about four hours sleep after the team returned from their mission, before she had to take over the control room from Kotori. Ever since, she had been monitoring the reactions online to the Yakuza building being suddenly taken down.

'Idoliser' had been busy again, not that Eli had been surprised. She was, as ever, uncomfortably close to the truth of the matter. Others online were concocting their own theories, which varied wildly in how close they were to reality.

It was not as though Idoliser was always close to the truth, but the frequency with which she picked up on where the Banshees were involved was frightening. Of course, she sometimes assumed their involvement when the Banshees had nothing to do with it – sometimes Yakuza did just happen to fight each other, sometimes major criminals were killed by someone else. But her accuracy was certainly North of 50%.

There was a knock on the door and Umi entered. Eli had guessed it was her before she saw – the others would not bother knocking. "Good morning Eli."

"Good morning." Umi held two mugs of coffee and offered one to Eli. "Thank you."

"How're our online friends," Umi asked, a strange expression on her face – worried, melancholic.

"Same old, same old." Eli sipped her coffee, staring at Umi over the rim of the cup. "What's on your mind?"

"Eh?"

"Your poker face hasn't improved in the two years I've known you."

Umi looked irritated by the comment, then shook herself. "Yeah… there's something that's worrying me."

"What is it?"

"Nico's last concert..."

Eli raised an eyebrow, waiting for Umi to continue.

"Honoka's sister was there. So were Idoliser and Hoshizora..."

Eli furrowed her brows, realising where this was going. "Everything, for all of us, started that night."

"Yes. If it weren't for that, you, Nozomi and Nico wouldn't have signed up, Maki wouldn't have joined to be with Nico and Honoka, Kotori and I..." Umi bit her lip.

"What happened to Honoka's sister?" Eli asked. "I have a vague idea, but… I was never told the details."

Umi frowned. "Well she went to the concert with several friends, including your sister…"

* * *

Alisa Ayase entered the hospital, smiling at a familiar receptionist. "Here to visit again Alisa-chan?" the older lady asked.

"Yes, do you know how she's been doing?" Alisa asked, blue eyes frowning while the rest of her face pulled together a smile.

"Much the same I hear, poor dear. She'll be happy to see you though."

Alisa nodded, "I hope she is."

"Well, just sign in here please..." The receptionist handed Alisa a form with a list of guests. She signed it then headed further into the hospital.

The young woman caught a few people looking at her as she walked. Over the years, she had come to look quite similar to her older sister – emulating the blonde beauty made Alisa a little happy, although it did give her a nasty reminder when she looked in a mirror. Remembering the sister she had lost left her feeling that little bit more empty.

But she had to be strong, for her own sake, and for Yukiho's…

She knocked on the all-too-familiar door, hearing the familiar voice calling "Come in!" Alisa slid the door open and stepped inside.

Teal eyes looked up at Alisa from a chair. A glowing smile appeared, framed by a long brown fringe. Yukiho jumped to her feet from the desk chair she had been sitting at, "Alisa! You came to visit!"

Alisa smiled, less brightly than her friend. "Hi Yukiho."

"Come in, come in. I'll get us some tea. Oh, and Mum brought some sweets last time she visited, I'll get those too."

Yukiho hurried to a little kitchen-area, putting on the kettle and opening the fridge to get the sweets. Alisa always found it strange that the hospital had rooms like this – it could have been a regular studio flat.

The doctors had always said that Yukiho was fine to look after herself, as long as she wasn't exposed to anything which could remind her of what happened. Alisa sat at the low table in the centre of the room, as Yukiho brought the tea and sweets over.

"Oh, just a second..." Yukiho went over to the desk she had been sitting at and tapped away at a few things. Alisa caught sight of a music player, which had been playing some of Nico-Nii's music, before Yukiho closed it.

"So, how have you been?" Yukiho asked as she sat down opposite Alisa.

"Okay, busy with university," Alisa replied.

"I get that, my courses are pretty crazy, even though they're all online. How's your family?"

"Mum and Dad are fine. We saw Grandma a couple of weeks ago, she's doing well."

"Glad to hear it. What about Eli-san?"

Alisa gritted her teeth a little, breathing slowly to keep herself calm. "I haven't seen her in a while."

"That's a pity. I haven't seen nee-chan in ages either."

Alisa held the passive look on her face, as she always did. She was used to doing this, going along with her best friend.

"Oh, have you heard from Sakura-chan and Yumi-chan? They never come and visit."

Alisa clenched her fist…

" _Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Wake up..."_

 _Alisa slowly pried her eyes open. Her head hurt, she had been thrown backwards by… something. An explosion? Yes, that was it…_

 _She looked around, spotting Yukiho nearby, knelt over something. Then Alisa registered the blood, and the broken body of their friend which Yukiho was clutching._

"Alisa?"

"Eh?"

"You spaced out," Yukiho said. "Something wrong?"

"N-no..."

"You sure?" Yukiho moved over to Alisa's side. "You look… really upset."

"Eh?" Alisa realised that she was crying and shaking.

"Alisa..." Yukiho hugged her friend. "It's okay, I'm here..."

Alisa leaned into the hug. "Thank you Yukiho."

"Anytime, Alisa-chan."

Alisa smiled. She loved this, the feeling of Yukiho's arms around her. The warmth of the other girl enveloping her.

Why did love have to be so painful?

* * *

"She doesn't remember her friends' deaths?" Eli asked, surprised.

"Any time she remembers, she has a fit. It's the same with Honoka, and by extension any of us. The same for you, or Nico. She has blanked out the pain in her life, because it was too much for her to handle."

"And Alisa's stayed with her..." Eli frowned, "I wonder how she's holding up."

"Six months of therapy, then she was okay."

"You looked it up?" Eli asked, startled.

"Stumbled on it when I was checking Yukiho's details. Your sister is doing okay."

"But not well?"

Umi shook her head, "I can't answer that, I'm afraid."

Eli leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. "God, I wish I could be there for her."

"I'm sure you do, but this is the choice we made."

Eli looked back at Umi. "Why did you make it?"

Umi sighed, "Mostly because of Honoka..."

* * *

"Now ladies, you all behave and wait 'til your families pay up, and there will be no problems, you get me?"

Umi glared at the man who spoke. She was knelt of the floor, tied up next to Honoka and Kotori. Umi had positioned herself in front of her two friends, particularly in front of Kotori.

"That's quite the spirit girly. I'm impressed, you really want to protect your little girlfriend there, don't you?" The man laughed. Umi's eyes were drawn to the pistol he held. "Don't worry, as long as you don't cause trouble, I won't hurt her. But if you do, I think she'll be the first. Oh, except that other girl isn't worth much, so I guess I'll do her first."

Umi looked at Honoka, who was shaking, staring at the floor, fear in her eyes. Umi glared back at the man who just laughed again.

The three women had been jumped while they were walking home from university. They had been knocked out and Umi had woken up in a van, tied up and gagged. They had been driven out to a flat on the edge of town and taken inside under cover of darkness.

There were five assailants total – the man's four comrades were in other rooms of the flat. He had been left to 'take care of' the girls.

Umi continued her glare, until a loud crash sounded somewhere else in the flat. The man stood, startled. "What the hell?"

A series of bangs sounded, followed by thuds. The man stood and aimed his pistol at Umi, staring at the door.

The door was thrown open and two figures in dark clothing and black helmets burst in, rifles raised.

"Shoot and I kill the girl. Drop your weapons!" the man shouted as the pair burst in.

The pair looked at each other and slowly started putting down their rifles. One of them spoke _"I hope you realise you aren't getting away with this."_

"Well as long as I have these..." he did not finish his sentence as a bullet burst through one of the room's windows and struck him in the head. He collapsed forward, dead.

The two in black quickly stepped over to the girls and removed their bonds. _"Sorry, but we need you to come with us. You'll be safe, I promise."_

* * *

"I want to join!"

" _What?"_

Honoka gave 'Swan' a determined look. "I want to join your group."

Umi stared at her friend, surprise writted all over her face. "Honoka..."

" _I… are you sure?"_

"Yes," Honoka said, voice firm, certain.

" _I'll… have to talk to some people..."_ Swan turned and left the room.

"Honoka, what on Earth are you thinking?" Umi grabbed Honoka by the shoulders and stared her dead in the eye. "Why are you…?"

"These guys… they're the same as the people who hurt Yukiho." Umi saw Honoka's fists tighten. She was close to a panic attack, but was fighting it back, Umi could tell. "I won't let them hurt other people like they did to her. I'll… protect them."

* * *

"What were we supposed to say to that?" Umi asked, staring at the dregs of her coffee.

Eli shrugged, "I don't know. I was surprised when you all wanted to join up, but..."

Umi laughed a little, "Honoka always dragged us into everything. Not that Kotori or I objected."

Eli nodded, "I can understand that. But back to your original point: everything started from Nico's last concert. So?"

Umi bit her lip, "I don't have proof. Heck, I don't have much evidence aside from this one massive coincidence. But I think that somebody set us up."

Eli raised an eyebrow, "You mean..."

Umi nodded, "Someone wanted _us_ to be the Banshees."

"Then… who?"

"I don't know, but I can tell you one thing."

"What?"

"You told me that Nozomi picked the name 'μ's', right?"

"Yes."

"And you are familiar with who the muses are in Greek Myth, right?"

"Yes… nine goddesses of music, right?"

Umi nodded, "Yes, nine."

Eli gasped, "You don't mean…?"

An alert flashed on the console. Eli looked at the monitor and hit a button, "Tsubasa? What is it?"

" _Eli, Idoliser has just been taken by the Yakuza, along with Hoshizora-san."_

* * *

A/N: So I missed a week due to being busy over the bank holiday weekend. Oh well, here's the next chapter.

Lots of background stuff, and no NicoMaki this week... huh... Well...

I may have spent much of the last couple of weeks reading NicoMaki stuff on AO3 (I am vaguely tempted to cross-post this to there, as it seems a bit more active for Love Live, we shall see if I can be bothered).

But yeah, hope you enjoyed, reviews are appreciated and all that jazz. Now to go and prepare for another work week... urgh...

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"...so that's the situation." Eli looked around at her gathered team members. Both Muse and A-Rise were gathered in the control room. "We will perform a counter-operation tonight. I know we're all tired from last night's operation, so go get some rest, we'll head out at 2300 hours."

"I hate to be the pragmatist," Nico spoke up from the wheelchair she was sat in, "but isn't this a massive risk? I'm not going to be able to fight, everyone is tired and those two… are they really worth the risk?"

Eli nodded, "I agree they may not look it at face-value, but the Yakuza want Idoliser to work for them, with blackmail if they need to, and we can't deny that she's good. With the info the Yakuza could give her, she's a severe threat to our operations."

"And they have something on her?" Honoka asked.

Nico nodded, wearing a sickened face. "He said they'd prostitute Hoshizora if Idoliser doesn't do as she's told."

The room fell silent for a moment, before Eli spoke again, "I trust we're all okay with the operation." The others nodded. "The objective will be to recover Idoliser and Hoshizora. See you all this evening."

The women started to leave, filing out of the room. Maki began to push Nico's wheelchair towards the door, when Eli called out "Maki, I need to speak to Nico for a bit. I'll bring her back when we're done."

Maki nodded, "I'll see you later."

She left and Nico looked up at Eli, "What is it?"

"I'd like you to be in here while we're on the mission."

"Why?"

"I need you to do something..."

* * *

"Everything okay?" Maki asked as she helped Nico out of the wheelchair and onto the bed.

"Well aside from the hole in my leg, yeah."

"Not what I meant."

Nico laughed, "Of course not. Eli just wanted to ask me to do some things during the mission. I'll be in the command room."

When Nico did not provide any further details, Maki sighed and sat herself down by Nico's side. "Okay, well that should be fine."

"Yes Sensei."

Maki rolled her eyes, then took Nico's hand in her own. "I'm almost surprised you weren't trying to go on the mission anyway."

"When I can barely walk? I'm not stupid, I know I'd be dead weight at best. Besides, I don't want you worrying about me."

"I would tell you to worry about your health more for personal reasons, but I guess that'll do."

Nico leaned back and fell back onto the bed, her legs still dangling over the edge. "I just… guess I'm annoyed at myself. But Eli gave me something to do at least, so I'll be good and sit this one out. Just like the doctor ordered."

"You're never going to stop making doctor jokes are you?"

Nico smiled, "Of course not."

* * *

Hanayo woke, her head throbbing. She blinked around as she sat up. She could feel something on her wrists, which were tightly held behind her back. It was rope, she realised. As her vision focused she saw Rin near her, unconscious.

"Rin!" Hanayo tried to move over to her girlfriend, only to realise the ropes binding her hands were tied to something behind her.

She looked around the room she was in – a storage room by the looks of it. There was a small window high up, with a little sunlight coming through. There was a single door and the walls were plain. A few random boxes lay around the room, but otherwise it was bare. She spotted a metal loop behind Rin on the floor, which she was bound to. Hanayo guessed the same was behind her.

She tugged on the ropes binding her hands, but quickly gave up, realising she was only hurting her wrists. She whimpered at the pain and stared at Rin. Tears began to form in her eyes, the pain combining with the fear to leave her weeping.

"Kayo...chin?" Hanayo sniffed as she watched Rin come to and pull herself up. "Where… are we? Why are you crying?" Rin blinked about and stared down at her self, "My leg… where is it?"

Hanayo followed Rin's gaze, seeing the stump where Rin's prosthetic was normally attached, but now was missing. Hanayo looked at the floor, "Rin… I'm sorry..."

"What? What do you mean Kayo-chin?"

"I think..." Hanayo was interrupted by the door opening and two men walking in. Both had pistols in their hands.

"Ah, you're awake. Good, the boss wants to see you Missy." One of the men stepped over to Hanayo and took out a knife. Hanayo moved away in fear, but the man simply knelt down and cut the ropes binding her.

"Come with us," the man said as he dragged Hanayo to her feet.

"Kayo-chin!" Rin struggled against the ropes.

"Shut it," the other man glared at Rin, clenching his fist. "Be quiet or else I'll make you be quiet."

Rin bit her lip and stared at Hanayo, fearful. Hanayo smiled weakly, "It's okay Rin… I'll be back..."

Hanayo was led out of the room, desperately trying to steel her nerves. She wiped her eyes and steadied her breath. She was led through the corridors into an office-like room, where Keiichi Izawa sat behind a desk. She recognised him immediately – she had done her research. She was directed to a seat in front of the desk and sat down. She wore what she hoped was a stern visage, though she could not help the little bit of fear in her heart from making its way to her face.

"Koizumi-san, nice to finally meet you."

"Izawa-san, would you mind cutting to the chase?"

Izawa raised an eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"

"You want something from me, and are going to threaten Rin-chan to make me do it, aren't you?"

Izawa blinked, bemused, "You really are good."

"It was pretty obvious. If you wanted me dead, I'd be in my flat with a bullet through my head by now, right?" Hanayo knew she was shaking, but kept on speaking, praying she had figured everything out correctly. "But you brought me and Rin here, then only wanted to speak to me. So I only have two questions: what do you want from me, and if I go along with it will Rin and I be left alone?"

Izawa leaned back and smirked, "You're already showing you'll be useful, good. I want you to find out who those people who keep messing with us are. If you do that, you and your girlfriend won't be harmed. I'll be keeping her locked up, but you'll be allowed to spend your nights with her. I'll even promise we won't sell the security footage of you girls doing your thing, lucrative as it would be."

Hanayo bit her lip, "I've been trying to find them for three years without success, so… I'm going to need all the info you have, from the attack yesterday back to the concert three years ago."

"Eh? Concert… oh, the idol thing. We don't know anything about that."

"What? That wasn't you?"

Izawa shook his head, "Nothing to do with us. We don't go in for ransoms normally – pisses off all the wrong people and draws attention."

"But what about Nishikino?"

"Oh, we had someone wanting her. We weren't going to ransom her. I don't know why they wanted her though..."

Hanayo was surprised the man was being so candid. Perhaps he was certain of his position and thus not worried.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make do with what you have. I don't really have a choice."

"No, you don't."

"Well, where do I start?"

Izawa grinned and signalled one of the men. "Show Koizumi-san to her office."

Hanayo stood to follow, but halted when she thought of one thing, "Oh, could you give Rin her leg back? She gets stressed without it."

Izawa stared at her, trying to see if there was more to the request. Of course, there was. Hanayo wanted to ensure that if there ever was a chance to escape then Rin would be physically able to do so. Hanayo kept a hopeful face, hoping her limited acting skills would be enough to make it look like a simple request of concern.

"Fine," Izawa replied and Hanayo had to stop herself from sighing in relief.

"Thanks…" Hanayo turned and followed the two men out of the room.

* * *

Hanayo stared blankly at the screen before her. She had spent the day sifting through the data she had been provided. It was somewhat gratifying to see that many of her prior assumptions had been correct, though she would rather the circumstances of that confirmation was different.

Sighing, she leaned back, staring at the clock. It was nearly ten in the evening. The Yakuza had brought her there nearly twelve hours earlier, and had brought her food every so often. She was hoping they would be okay with her stopping soon and she could go back to Rin. She hoped her girlfriend was okay…

An alert appeared on the screen in front of her. She glanced at it, preparing to dismiss it when her eyes fixed on the message: 'Hello Idoliser.'

Slowly, she clicked on the alert. It opened a messenger app which Hanayo did not recognise. Nervously, she typed a response: 'Who is this?'

' _I'm one of the people you've been looking for: Fairy.'_

'Is that a code name or something?'

' _Basically, yes.'_

' _Now, I don't have a lot of time, so here's the deal: you need to go back to your girlfriend as soon as we finish talking. My friends will be there in about an hour to pick you two up. What I need you to do first though is to deactivate the security on the computer you're on."_

'You're going to take the data?'

' _That, and wipe it afterwards. Also should give us access to their system.'_

' _Then, when you go back, be ready to move.'_

'Why should I trust you?'

Hanayo's greatest worry was that this was a trick by one of the Yakuza – maybe they wanted to test her. If it was one of them…

The next response in the chat was a video. Hanayo cautiously clicked on it. It played, fairly quiet on the speakers.

" _Nico-Nico-Nii, Nico-Nii is here to be your Number one fairy godmother!"_ An image of Nico Yazawa appeared on the screen, performing her signature gesture. Hanayo was stunned, but not as much as a second later.

" _I hope that's proof enough, Idoliser."_

A few seconds later, the video vanished as Nico deleted it on her end.

'Okay. What exactly do you need me to do to lower the security?'

* * *

"Kayo-chin, what's..."

"Sh… It's okay Rin."

Gunshots sounded around the pair, throughout the building. The two women were huddled together, holding each other tightly. Hanayo nuzzled Rin, "It'll all be okay… I promise."

Rin looked Hanayo in the eyes, seeing how calm her girlfriend was. Maybe she could hope that it would all be fine. Maybe it would be. But…

The door to their room was thrown open and two figures in black entered. Each carried a rifle. Rin quickly put herself in front of Hanayo protectively, but Hanayo kissed her gently and stood. "I assume you're here for us."

" _We're Fairy's friends."_

Hanayo smiled, "Okay, then let's go."

Rin stared at the exchange, wide-eyed. Hanayo held out a hand as one of the figures in black cut Rin's bonds. "Let's go Rin."

Rin took the hand...

* * *

A/N: So this took a while...

A combination of me being lazy and busy weeks contributed to it, but yeah, four weeks... not a great record. Ah well, here you go. Hope you enjoyed and all that.

At least part of the delay is due to me working on other projects - I have a script I am writing (intended for theatre, a mystery) and have a bunch of random novel ideas which I keep half-starting. Plus the tabletop rpg system which I swear I will publish one day... one day... ah well, here's to another week!

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


End file.
